The National Academy of Medicine (ANM) of Venezuela urged the Ministry of Health on Monday to reactivate epidemiological surveillance and vaccinate as soon as possible the entire population at risk of contracting yellow fever, after the World Health Organization ( WHO) confirmed an outbreak in the country.
"The ANM urges the MPPS (Ministry of Health) to publish the epidemiological bulletin, to reactivate and maintain epidemiological surveillance and to vaccinate as soon as possible the entire population at risk of contracting yellow fever and makes our experts available to the authorities to collaborate in the national vaccination plan", reads a statement from the academy.
In his opinion, "scarce epidemiological, entomological and virological surveillance and low vaccination coverage are the determining factors in the resurgence of cases".
"The country had a good epidemiological surveillance system, previously coordinated by Malariology, which is practically abandoned", they denounced.
In this sense, they explained that, on June 2, 2020, Venezuela received 4.7 million doses of yellow fever vaccine through the revolving fund of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Those doses, according to the ANM, "should have been administered to populations at risk".
The WHO reported last Thursday of an outbreak of yellow fever in Venezuela, with seven cases that were confirmed by laboratory tests at the end of September and among which six corresponded to people who were not vaccinated against this endemic disease in several South American countries. .
Faced with this health risk, in a country with a very precarious health system and facing the covid-19 pandemic, the WHO said that the most urgent thing is to increase vaccination coverage among the population, particularly those who live in areas Amazonian and are exposed to two mosquitoes that transmit the disease in forest areas (Haemagogus and Sabethes).
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