Measles
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Transcript:
Naley Kouyate's 9 month old baby needs an injection to help him breathe,
he's been diagnosed with measles.
-I came to the hospital, they looked at my son and they asked me to buy some medicine
I bought it but the fever has continued, his temperature is high, I'm sorry I cannot speak.
This baby has blood around his nose and mouth because he can't breathe. Both need oxygen
but conditions at the main hospital in Conakry are dire. Mothers have to fetch water in a bucket
for their babies and some days there is no electricity.
Here we have a baby suffering from measles who has severe complications with pneumonia, the other
baby laying over there has the same, they need oxygen and we cannot connect them because there is no
electricity today.
A UN survey shows that only 37 percent of children in Guinea get all the vaccinations they need
to stay healthy, making the majority vulnerable. Unicef says one child has been confirmed dead
since the outbreak began in November, but the real number may be much higher.
Three babies died in front of me and this one here. Before they admitted us some parents I met told me that
seven babies had already died here before I arrived with my baby.
The UN says Guinea's many years of political instability meant that it was almost impossible
to get funding or aid. Even now with the western backed civilian government in place,
most people live on less than a dollar a day. In partnership with the government,
aid agencies want to start vaccinating children next week, but an appeal for aid earlier
this week has been unanswered. They still need a million Dollars and more than a million vaccines.
Measles is easily preventable, but it's also very contagious so many more children are at risk.
Naley's son died a day after we filmed him because he wasn't vaccinated and because there was no electricity
to give him oxygen.
Joanna Blundell, Aljazeera.