JUBA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's Ministry of Health and partners launched a mass cholera vaccination campaign in Juba targeting some 200,000 people Wednesday.
Ante Wind, deputy medical coordinator of medical charity, Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), which leads the campaign, said the latest vaccination drive seeks to curb outbreaks and enhance protection of people against the deadly diarrheal disease that has killed over 320 people since the outbreak was reported in June 2016.
"We are targeting 200,000 people in Juba and the locations that we are targeting are either active or historic hotspots of cholera transmission. We hope that after the campaign, at least a third of Juba will be protected against cholera for the next three years or maybe longer years," Wind said.
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said last month that nearly 20,000 cholera cases including 320 deaths have been reported from 24 counties in the East African country.
In a bid to stop further spread of cholera, WHO said it had provided 500,000 doses of Oral Cholera Vaccine (OVC) to be used in high-risk areas and further strengthened strategies for improving access to patient care, surveillance and social mobilization to combat outbreaks.
According to WHO, disease is a leading cause of death in war-torn South Sudan with an estimated 1.3 million people said to have been fallen ill with malaria this year alone, while thousands are affected by cholera and measles, particularly along the Nile River and in camps for displaced people.
The health agency added that malnutrition, severe pneumonia, malaria and prenatal complications remain the most common causes of death in children under five.
