GIN
April 2014
Oral Cholera Vaccine stockpile campaign amongst Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in South Sudan
Stephen Martin, WHO Headquarters
[Full text]
The first use of the global oral cholera vaccine (OCV) stockpile, created in 2013, under the management of the Inter-national Coordinating Group (ICG) recently deployed 252,000 doses of vaccine to South Sudan.
The mandate for the OCV stockpile is primarily for cholera outbreaks but will also consider vaccine requests for humanitarian crisis response.
As a result of recent conflict in South Sudan (December 2013), population displacement occurred, internally as IDPs and externally as refugees. Many of the IDPs are living in Protection of Civilian (POCs) areas within the United Nations Mission to South Sudan (UNMISS) compounds. Living conditions for the IDPs have deteriorated below international standards, increasing the risk of waterborne diseases including cholera. These conditions are anticipated to deteriorate further with the onset of seasonal rains.
A risk assessment completed by WHO CO concluded that the combination of historical outbreaks, the living conditions and the forthcoming rains placed the IDPs at an increased risk of cholera. At the request of the Ministry of Health, WHO facilitated the deployment of vaccine to the country.
The vaccine arrived in country on 22 February 2014. Over the following 38 days, two implementing partners MedAir and Medecins sans Frontiers have completed 3 campaigns in separate IDP locations, Mingkaman, Tomping and UN House delivering 132,925 doses. The vaccine regime requires two doses given as a single dose two weeks apart. Hygiene messaging was given with the vaccine. In Mingkaman the second dose was co-administered with Meningococcal A conjugate vaccine. Further campaigns are anticipated.
As a new public health intervention to complement established cholera prevention and control measures, greater frequency of use of the vaccine stockpile will increase awareness and acceptability while at the same time providing evidence to demonstrate the full public health potential of this intervention.
http://www.who.int/immunization/GIN_April_2014.pdf?ua=1