ReliefWeb

Summary: CHF 56,281 was allocated from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) on 29 June 2011 to support the Congolese Red Cross national society in delivering assistance to some 220,000 beneficiaries.

A measles epidemic was declared officially in Pointe Noire on 10 June 2011. By then, 687 cases and 32 deaths were registered. In response to the epidemic, the Government, supported by its partners, organized an anti-measles immunization campaign that took place from 22 June to 26 July 2011 targeting 142,397 children aged 6 to 8 months. With this DREF allocation, the Congolese Red Cross national society contributed to the success of the campaign by conducting social mobilization and door-to-door sensitization. While 79,822 (i.e. 56.06%) children were actually vaccinated, an additional 8,957 children received vitamin A. After the immunization campaign, trained Red Cross volunteers conducted behaviour change communication (BCC) sessions to help prevent the spread of measles. About 2,144,000 people were reached with sensitization messages.