These last weeks have posed great challenges, but all of our hard work paid off. We reached our target of 1 million meningitis vaccinations in our region. We treated 5,300 patients and helped keep mortality down to 208 people.
If we’d had to wait even two or three more weeks before responding—to write funding proposals, submit them to agencies and/or governments, and wait for approval—it would have been too late to prevent the outbreak from spreading. We were able to act quickly and effectively because private individuals had already chosen to support us.
The E-Medco is on his way to Paris to do a breakdown of the epidemiological data. This post-intervention analysis should help us to be even more prepared for the next vaccination campaign.
The nurse is staying on for a few weeks to carry on case management and trainings in some of the key medical facilities before taking a well-deserved break. We want to leave the region’s hospitals with the necessary supplies and skilled personnel who are prepared to handle cases of meningitis.
It’s unlikely that we’ll be seeing another outbreak of this magnitude for quite a while, in this region. But we can expect a complex situation next dry season, just five months away. Small outbreaks may occur in areas that may have been missed. So we have to remain vigilant in our surveillance.
The E-LogCo is on his way back to New York to do the PPDL for new logs.
The Field Log is taking a well-deserved vacation in Ethiopia.
Your Emergency Coordinator is going home to Paris for a while, on standby for the next emergency. We think we’ll be sending her to eastern Congo to run our emergency programs for displaced civilians.
And we’re sending the Admin to the Philippines to work in the camps for displaced people there. But not before she’s had a couple of weeks at home in Kenya.
When an emergency strikes, we must be able to respond at a moment’s notice. Thanks to our 3.7 million supporters around the world, MSF is able to mobilize teams in an emergency situation, and works hard to BE THERE FIRST for a population in need.
It’s never too long before the next emergency. So, be well. See you next time.