Day: September 5, 2022

The death toll from a measles outbreak in Zimbabwe has risen to almost 700 children, the country’s health ministry has said.

Some are calling for the enactment of legislation to make vaccination mandatory in a country where anti-modern medicine religious sects hold sway on large swathes of the population of 15 million people.

The southern African country’s health ministry announced at the weekend that 698 children have died from measles since the outbreak started in April.

The ministry said 37 of the deaths occurred on a single day on Sept. 1. The health ministry said it had recorded 6,291 cases by Sept. 4.

The latest figures are more than four times the number of deaths announced about two weeks ago when the ministry said 157 children, most of whom were unvaccinated due to their family’s religious beliefs, had succumbed to the disease.

Dr. Johannes Marisa, the president of the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association, told The Associated Press on Monday that the government should escalate an ongoing mass vaccination campaign and embark on awareness programs targeted especially at anti-vaccine religious groups.

“Because of the resistance, education may not be enough so the government should also consider using coercive measures to ensure that no one is allowed to refuse vaccination for their children,” said Marisa. He urged the government to “consider enacting legislation that makes vaccination against killer diseases such as measles mandatory.”

UNICEF on Monday said it “is deeply concerned” with the number of cases and deaths among children due to measles. The agency said it is assisting the government to combat the outbreak through immunization programs.

The measles outbreak was first reported in the eastern Manicaland province in early April and has since spread to all parts of the country.

Many of the deaths have been of children who were not vaccinated, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said in August.

Zimbabwe’s Cabinet has invoked a law used to respond to disasters to deal with the outbreak.

The government has embarked on a mass vaccination campaign targeting children aged between 6 months and 15 years old and is engaging traditional and faith leaders to support the drive.

Zimbabwe continued vaccinating children against measles even during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, but the drive has been hampered by religious groups that preach against vaccines.

The Christian sects are against modern medicine and tell their members to rely on self-proclaimed prophets for healing.

Church gatherings that have resumed following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions have “led to the spread of measles to previously unaffected areas,” said the health ministry in a statement last week.

Measles is among the most infectious diseases in the world and mostly spreads in the air by coughing, sneezing or close contact.

Symptoms include coughing, fever and a skin rash, while the risk of severe measles or dying from complications is high among unvaccinated children.

Outbreaks in unvaccinated and malnourished populations have been known to kill thousands. Scientists estimate that more than 90% of the population needs to be immunized to prevent measles outbreaks.

The World Health Organization in April warned of an increase in measles in vulnerable countries as a result of a disruption of services due to COVID-19.

In July, the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, said about 25 million children worldwide have missed out on routine immunizations against common childhood diseases, calling it a “red alert” for child health.

Source: Voice of America

Jehovah’s Witnesses have restarted their door-to-door ministry in the U.S. after more than 2½ years on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, reviving a religious practice that the faith considers crucial and cherished.

From coast to coast, members of the Christian denomination fanned out in cities and towns Thursday to share literature and converse about God for the first time since March 2020.

In the Jamaica Plain neighborhood on the south side of Boston, Dan and Carrie Sideris spent a balmy morning walking around knocking on doors and ringing bells. Dan Sideris said he had been apprehensive about evangelizing in person in “a changed world,” but the experience erased any traces of doubt.

“It all came back quite naturally because we don’t have a canned speech,” he said. “We try to engage with people about what’s in their heart, and what we say comes from our hearts.”

The couple were surprised at how many people opened their doors and were receptive.

One man took a break from a Zoom call to accept their booklets and set up an appointment to continue the conversation. At another home, a woman spoke of how many family members died in the last two years — something the Siderises could relate to, both of them having lost parents recently. Another woman was too busy at the moment but spoke to Carrie Sideris through the window and said she could come back Sunday.

“I’ve been looking forward to this day,” she said. “When I rang the first doorbell this morning, a total calm came over me. I was back where I needed to be.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses suspended door-knocking in the early days of the pandemic’s onset in the United States, just as much of the rest of society went into lockdown, too. The organization also ended all public meetings at its 13,000 congregations nationwide and canceled 5,600 annual gatherings worldwide — an unprecedented move not taken even during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918, which killed 50 million people worldwide.

Witnesses continued their ministry by writing letters and making phone calls, but it wasn’t the same because it lacked a personal touch, said Robert Hendriks, national spokesperson for the denomination.

“To us, going door to door is an expression of our God’s impartiality,” he said. “We go to everyone and let them choose whether they want to hear us or not.”

Anxiety, then and now

Even in pre-pandemic times, door-knocking ministry came with anxiety because Witnesses never knew how they would be received at any given home. In 2022 that’s even more the case, and evangelizers are being advised to be mindful that lives and attitudes have changed.

“It’s going to take an additional level of courage,” Hendriks said.

The organization is not mandating masks or social distancing, leaving those decisions to each individual.

The denomination has cautiously been rebooting other activities: In April it reopened congregations for in-person gatherings, and in June it resumed public ministry where members set up carts in locations such as subway stations and hand out literature.

But getting back to door-knocking, considered not just a core belief but also an effective ministry, is a big step toward “a return to normal,” Hendriks said.

Among those eager to pound the pavement again was Jonathan Gomas of Milwaukee, who started door-knocking with his parents when he was “big enough to ring a doorbell.”

“When you’re out in the community, you have your hand on the pulse,” he said. “We haven’t had that close feeling with the community for more than two years now. It feels like we’ve all become more distant and polarized.”

Gomas and his wife and two daughters have all learned Hmong in order to better reach out to members of that community, and residents are often pleasantly surprised to open their doors to fluent speakers of their language.

“I think it made them listen even closer,” he said.

‘Much more personal’

In Acworth, Georgia, Nathan Rivera said he has greatly missed seeing people’s faces and reading their expressions.

“You see and appreciate these responses, and it’s much more personal,” he said. “You establish common ground and relationships that you can never develop over the phone or by writing a letter.”

The son of Cuban refugees who came to the United States in the 1980s, Rivera said door-knocking is an important part of his spiritual identity and “feels Christ-like.”

“We show respect for each person’s right to hold a different belief,” he said. “If they don’t want to hear what we have to say, we politely thank them and move on, recognizing that we cannot judge anyone. We’ll just keep on knocking.”

Source: Voice of America