Luanda – The Yellow Fever outbreak in Angola that began late last year has killed up to 158 people, an official of the World Health Organisation (WHO), has said.
The official, Mr Hernando Ospina, WHO representative in the country made the statement on Friday in Luanda.
He said that Luanda and other cities in the country had also recorded increase in the infection rate of malaria, cholera and chronic diarrhea.
He said that health officials in the country attributed the reason to breakdown in sanitation services and rubbish collection.
He said that city authorities had slashed their budget for rubbish collection to cope with budget crisis.
He said that this had resulted in accumulation of waste in poorer suburbs including Viana, where the first case of yellow fever was reported in late December.
“This is an urban pattern of outbreak of Yellow Fever and it is much more complicated to tackle and deal with.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
“The possibility of spreading out to other provinces or even to all the country is much higher than if it had happened in a rural area,’ Ospina said.
Angola relies on crude exports for around 95 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings.
A sharp decline in oil prices since mid-2014 had hobbled Africa’s second biggest oil exporter, sending the country’s currency (kwanza) plummeting that necessitated deep cuts in public spending. (PANA/NAN)