An outbreak of meningitis has affected 175 people in Uganda, 11 of them being fatal, the United Nations World Health Organization reported, estimating that more than 200,000 vaccine doses are needed to immunise another 133,000 Ugandans.
WHO and the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) have provided enough doses for just 800 to 1,000 patients. The health agency is working with the UN Children's Fund and the Ugandan authorities to increase community awareness in the affected district, as well as in nearby Kitgum and Moroto districts, and to persuade the people there to make quick referrals of suspected cases to designated facilities.
The majority of the cases have been reported in the Nakapiripirit district in north-eastern Uganda and four cases have been confirmed in neighbouring Kenya, WHO said.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the situation has been exacerbated by the extremely dry weather, which has forced nomadic populations into crowded temporary settlements, thereby contributing to the rapid spread of the disease.