Rumbek Central Prison in Lakes State - Courtesy

RUMBEK, (Eye Radio) – Lakes State Ministry of Health has diagnosed at least 24 inmates with measles at Rumbek Central Prison during an assessment of the facility where authorities highlighted health risks caused by overcrowding.

Director General of the state Ministry of Health, Maker Malok Chieny, confirmed the measles outbreak after he visited the prison to ascertain the condition of prisoners. He said two of the infected inmates were elderly men who were critically ill.

“Among the about 738 in the prison, we have seen new cases of measles infection where we recorded 24 prisoners that are infected with measles cases, including two are old men who are severely infected,” he said.

Mr. Malok added that the government is collaborating with the World Health Organization (WHO) to treat the inmates by supplying them with calamine lotion and painkillers to reduce fever and other symptoms.

“We also sent medicines for allergies, because it’s itching a lot and most of them have been crashing their bodies. We have sent anti-allergic drugs and painkillers as well as calamine lotions to help them to reduce severe itching that’s taking place in their bodies.”

He commended the partnership with WHO and other agencies in responding to public health concerns and providing guidance to healthcare workers in the state.

Mr. Malok further highlighted that the state prison is overcrowded and authorities find it difficult to isolate inmates with contagious diseases like tuberculosis, chickenpox and measles from the rest.

“These inmates are coming from different places, and we have seen it is a combination of the whole state. If one person is coming with a disease to the respective population, it will also cause an outbreak in that particular direction,” he narrated.

“We are very concerned about the ability to control any condition that’s happening within the population of inmates in the prison. I asked before about the isolation unit in the state prison and what they do is just separate cases.”

“There are some who are fresh in prison and their cases have not been sorted out by a lawyer. They just sleep together. They put people in categories, and these categories do not allow them to keep the cases of an outbreak separately, like tuberculosis, and measles cases or any other disease in prison to be separated.”

According to the health official, prison authorities have only a narrow room for emergency cases, and no other effective means of disease prevention.

Mr. Malok said the rate of infection is very high, and the health ministry is encouraging inmates to observe preventive measures and proper hygiene and sanitation and the prison service to create a conducive environment to prevent disease outbreaks.

“I recommended in our previous meeting that we could build more rooms within the prison so that there are enough spaces. The only problem is that the rooms are not being built very well, so that we can name those who are actually in a severe condition and should be isolated until they recover.”

– Measles –

According to WHO, measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. It can cause severe disease, complications, and even death.

Measles can affect anyone but is most common in children.

Measles infects the respiratory tract and then spreads throughout the body. Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose and a rash all over the body.

Being vaccinated is the best way to prevent getting sick with measles or spreading it to other people. The vaccine is safe and helps your body fight off the virus.

Before the introduction of measles vaccine in 1963 and widespread vaccination, major epidemics occurred approximately every two to three years and caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year.

An estimated 107,500 people died from measles in 2023 – mostly children under the age of five years, despite the availability of a safe and cost-effective vaccine.