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Written question asked by Stephen Twigg (Labour) on Thursday, 11 April 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 24 April 2019 (named day). It was answered by Harriett Baldwin (Conservative) on Wednesday, 24 April 2019 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Venezuela: Infectious Diseases

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department made of trends in the level of incidences of (a) measles, (b) diphtheria and (c) malaria in Venezuela; and what steps is her Department taking to support programmes to tackle incidences of these diseases in that country.

Answer

Official figures show that the incidences of measles, diphtheria and malaria in Venezuela have all risen over the past few years. They report that a diphtheria outbreak began in Venezuela in July 2016 and from then until February 2019, a total of 2,726 suspected cases were reported (324 in 2016; 1,040 in 2017; 1,198 in 2018; and 164 in 2019) with 1,612 confirmed cases and 270 deaths (17 in 2016; 103 in 2017; and 150 in 2018).

Regarding measles, World Health Organisation assesses that the 2018 epidemic seems to have been largely brought under control thanks to vaccination campaigns supported by Pan American Health Organisation, but the risk remains. They report that, from mid-2017 to February 2019, a total of 9,399 suspected cases were reported (1,307 in 2017; 7,809 in 2018; and 283 in 2019) with 6,242 confirmed cases and 76 deaths (2 in 2017 and 74 in 2018).

According to the World Malaria Report 2018, the Americas accounted for 0.44% of malaria cases (975,700 cases) in the world; 42% (519,109 cases) were reported by WHO in Venezuela. It is now part of the group of countries with the highest burden of malaria at the global level with 0.22% of global cases.

The UK Government remains extremely concerned about the situation in Venezuela and has announced an emergency aid package of £6.5 million to respond to the most severe needs, in particular health, by providing immunisations against deadly diseases, supporting emergency rooms and ensuring that people who are fleeing their homes have access to crucial support, including through the provision of mobile health clinics.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
244007
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Venezuela Malaria Measles Diphtheria
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk