48 million targeted as Yellow Fever Initiative partners commit to control the disease across west Africa

Dakar/Brazzaville/Geneva, 5 December 2007 -- With the vaccination this week of 3.1 million people in Senegal, WHO Member States across west Africa and their partners are launching the first preventive pan-west-African Yellow Fever vaccination campaign in 40 years. In the course of the next three years, the campaign will be aiming to vaccinate at least 48 million children and adults in west Africa.

While Yellow Fever vaccination efforts in recent years have targeted outbreaks of the disease and their aftermath, this preventive campaign will be aiming to increase Yellow Fever vaccination coverage to at least 80% of the targeted at risk population across west Africa. Senegal, for example, has not had any Yellow Fever cases since 2002,  although with vaccination coverage rates at an estimated 46% in some districts, the country could be vulnerable to a Yellow Fever epidemic if the disease struck there again. The Yellow Fever Initiative is aiming to increase the public health security of the entire region by reducing the chance of a Yellow Fever epidemic to the greatest extent possible.

After Senegal, high risk areas of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Mali Nigeria and Sierra Leone, where population vaccination rates are particularly low, will be targeted. In areas which have been determined to be high-risk, all people aged 9 months and older will be vaccinated. In all, the Yellow Fever Initiative is aiming to vaccinate 48 million people in high-risk districts in 12 countries in west and central Africa by end of 2010. Next up in  the planned campaign are Mali in January 2008 and Burkina Faso later in the year.

"This campaign has been made possible by a number of partners bringing their expertise and commitments together for the first time ever via the Yellow Fever Initiative. The Member States across the Region have committed human and financial resources to this effort, while the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization has generously supported the Initiative with a donation of 63 million USD - enough money to buy  and distribute 58 million doses of vaccine and supplies .

“WHO, working with UNICEF, MSF, AMP, PATH, Institut Pasteur of Dakar, CDC has provided technical support, including the structure for conducting the risk assessments which have allowed us to define those groups across west and central Africa which most urgently need vaccinating," said Dr Mike Ryan, Director for Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response at WHO Headquarters in Geneva.

"With this campaign, the Initiative will be able to vaccinate at-risk populations and thus quickly reduce the risk of devastating outbreaks that could otherwise threaten the region and maybe even beyond," said Dr Adamou Yada, Regional Adviser  for Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response in WHO's African Region. "After this first phase, we are working hard to expand the campaign to other areas in Africa and eventually reach everyone in the region - approximately 240 million people - who, we believe, need to be vaccinated against Yellow Fever. In so doing, we would be contributing to the public health security of the entire world," added Dr Yada.

The Yellow Fever Initiative is made of WHO Member States, the WHO, UNICEF, GAVI, Médecins Sans Frontières, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Association pour la Médecine Préventive (AMP), the Programme for Appropriate Technology (PATH), the European Union Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) and the Institut Pasteur.

In Senegal, 3,907 health workers and 195 supervisors from Ministry of Health,  WHO, UNICEF and local NGOs, with the technical support of the French Cooperation Agency, will be vaccinating 3.1 million people in 22 districts from 5-13 December.

Earlier this year, the Yellow Fever Initiative vaccinated 3.6 million people in Togo in the wake of an outbreak there, in order to raise vaccination coverage to a level which should limit the chances of new outbreaks occurring there.

Yellow Fever was once one of the most feared epidemic diseases in the world with the capacity to bring devastation to almost every continent.

Yellow Fever is an acute, haemorrhagic, viral disease that is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. Infection may produce no effect, or severe illness; 20–50% of those with severe illness will die of the disease

The disease is endemic in tropical regions of Africa and South America, where 44 countries (33 in Africa and 11 in South America) are considered to be at risk. Currently, 610 million people are considered to be at risk from the disease in Africa.  Most countries have regulations and requirements for yellow fever vaccination that must be met prior to entering the country.

Between 60-80% is considered to be the minimum population coverage rate at which "population-wide immunity" can occur. Under this coverage level, outbreaks are possible.

For more information contact:

Media contact:

Geneva: John Rainford; tel: +4122 791 3982; e-mail  rainfordj [at] who.int

Gregory Hartl; tel: + 41 22 7914458; e-mail hartlg [at] who.int

Brazzaville: Sam Ajibola, Tel.: + 47 241 39378; e-mail ajibolas [at] afro.who.int

Technical contact:

Dr Adamou Yada, Tel.: +47 241 39582; E-mail yadaa [at] afro.who.int