A. Situation analysis
Description of the disaster
In November 2015, 858 cases of measles were reported in communities in the Far North and North regions of Cameroon, which are under the “control” of the Boko Haram group. Of all the recorded cases, the Mokolo district (Mayo-Tsanaga Division) in the Far North region accounted for 587 cases, which for a population of 211,906 people presented an extremely concerning “attack rate”. Given the Mokolo health district is located close to the Chad and Nigerian borders, it raised the risk of the epidemic spreading to these countries. Cameroon has reported unsatisfactory vaccination coverage against the disease (72 per cent) in accordance with the World Health Organizations (WHO) AFRO “Eliminating Measles in Africa Region by 2020” resolution, and it was therefore proposed that an immediate national measles and rubella virus vaccine live (MR) campaign should be initiated to address the epidemic (from 24 – 28 November 2016).
On 16 November 2015, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) released CHF 61,205 from the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the Cameroon Red Cross Society (CRC) support the Public Ministry of Health (MoH) led vaccination campaign through social mobilization activities targeting 1,609,629 people (95 per cent of children aged nine months to 14 years) in 30 health districts (Bogo, Bourha, Gazawa, Goulfrey, Guere, Guidiguis, Hina, Kaele, Kar Hay, Kolofata, Kousseri, Koza, Mada, Maga, Makary, Maroua 1, Maroua 2, Maroua 3, Meria, Mindif, Mogode, Mokolo, Mora, Moulvoudaye, Moutourwa, Pette, Roua, Tokombere, Vele and Yagoua) of the Far North region of Cameroon. Activities planned included: refresher training/deployment of volunteers to the affected health districts, and dissemination of information, education and communication (IEC) materials.
The major donors and partners of the DREF include the Red Cross Societies and governments of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the USA, as well as DG ECHO, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) the Medtronic and Zurich Foundations and other corporate and private donors. The IFRC, on behalf of the Cameroon Red Cross Society would like to extend many thanks to all partners for their generous contributions.
Please note that this Preliminary Report is issued in advance of the Final Report, which is expected to be issued by the end of April 2016