The World Health Organization warns Friday morning of outbreaks of other diseases, which are likely to be forgotten by the attention for the corona crisis. More needs to be done to prevent major measles and polio epidemics in African countries such as the Congo, Pakistan and India. UNICEF, the United Nations children’s fund, is also afraid that Covid-19 is demanding so much attention that children are more at risk for the aforementioned diseases.
The international organizations estimate that substantial sums are needed to continue or renew campaigns, such as programs for vaccinations on a large scale: more than 330 million euros (400 million dollars) for polio, and nearly 190 million (225 million dollars) to ward off measles. “Covid-19 has had a devastating effect on health services worldwide,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general. in a joint press statement. “We have the capabilities and knowledge to stop diseases like polio and measles, unlike Covid. What we need are the commitments to put this into practice. ”
This article is also part of our live blog: At XL test lanes, there will soon be between 3,000 and 12,000 tests per location per day
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