MSF suspends measles vaccination campaign in Mogadishu area because of violence

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) last week cut short a three-week measles vaccination campaign intended to reach 35,000 children in the Daynile area near the Somali capital Mogadishu, after intense fighting erupted between the militant group al-Shabab and forces of Somalia's Transitional National Government, backed by the African Union Mission in Somalia, VOA News reports. Only 4,831 children had been reached in six days, according to the news agency.

"The head of [MSF's] programs in Somalia, Duncan McLean, says measles combined with malnutrition is the main cause of death among children in Somalia. He says the suspension puts children in the Daynile area at grave risk," VOA writes (Majtenyi, 10/23). According to an MSF press release, "MSF continues to work in the Daynile hospital and in Mogadishu, where our teams provide medical and nutritional assistance to displaced populations" (10/21).