Birao, May 07 (Darfur24)
Officials at the Birao refugee camp in the Central African Republic (CAR) said on Wednesday that at least 103 people have died during a measles outbreak over the past two weeks, amid collapsing health conditions and a severe shortage of medical services.
According to camp authorities, the deaths include 56 children, 33 women, and 14 men.
Abdullah Rabah, head of the Women and Child Protection Center in the camp, told Darfur24 that diseases are spreading rapidly among refugees as healthcare services have nearly collapsed.
He said the camp lacks doctors, medicines, and functioning medical facilities, with only a limited number of paramedics providing basic first aid.
“The health situation is catastrophic,” Rabah said, warning that the outbreak continues to spread in the absence of urgent intervention.
He added that no vaccination campaigns have been carried out in the camp since 2024, despite the growing spread of measles. Some families, he said, have resorted to vaccinating their children individually through private arrangements or by paying money due to the absence of official immunization programs.
Rabah warned that the crisis could worsen further in the camp and surrounding areas unless emergency medical assistance, vaccines, and treatment supplies are delivered immediately to contain the outbreak and protect refugees.