Deadly diseases such as measles, tetanus and whooping cough are on the rise in Ethiopia's Tigray region after vaccination rates plunged during the civil war that broke out nearly two years ago, doctors and regional health officials say. The percentage of children in Tigray receiving routine vaccines has fallen below 10% this year, data from the Tigray Health Bureau shows, undoing years of government efforts to boost immunisation rates. Ethiopian government spokesperson Legesse Tulu, military spokesperson Colonel Getnet Adane and the prime minister’s spokesperson Billene Seyoum did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the U.N. report. Measles OutbreakHealth Minister Lia Tadesse said vaccines had been provided to Tigray this year and that more were ready to be delivered once conditions allowed. The rate across Ethiopia was 65% in 2021, according to data from the U.N. children's agency UNICEF.

Source: Ethiopian News September 20, 2022 18:09 UTC