Daily Archives: 6th December 2019

Measles ‘misinformation campaigns’ through social media, fuel rising toll

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6 December 2019
Health
Measles deaths and infections in 2019 are set to “substantially exceed” last year’s toll when more than 142,000 people died from the preventable disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
In a warning over dangerously low vaccination levels and large outbreaks in several countries – spurred on by social media “misinformation campaigns” – the UN health agency insisted that anything less than 95 per cent coverage risked sparking an outbreak.
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UN team aids Samoa response to deadly measles epidemic

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6 December 2019
Health
UN teams are on the ground in Samoa as the country combats a deadly measles epidemic. So far, there have been more than 4,200 cases and 62 deaths, mainly babies, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency on 15 November and launch a mass vaccination campaign five days later.
Simona Marinescu, UN Resident Coordinator in the Pacific island nation, reported that the situation remains critical, as the Government commenced a two-day shutdown on Thursday to ensure that all people who have not been vaccinated are protected against the highly contagious disease.
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Rise in Caribbean children displaced by storms shows climate crisis is a child rights issue: UNICEF

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6 December 2019
Climate Change
The number of Caribbean children displaced by storms has risen approximately six-fold in the past five years, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reveals in a new report released on Friday.
Catastrophic tropical cyclones and hurricanes uprooted an estimated 761,000 children in the region between 2014 and 2018, which also was the hottest five-year period on record.
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