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Morocco Expands COVID-19 Vaccination Drive

Moroccan police officers remind sellers to respect the security measures such as distancing and wearing a mask, in a market of Casablanca, Morocco, Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. (AP)
Moroccan police officers remind sellers to respect the security measures such as distancing and wearing a mask, in a market of Casablanca, Morocco, Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. (AP)
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Morocco Expands COVID-19 Vaccination Drive

Moroccan police officers remind sellers to respect the security measures such as distancing and wearing a mask, in a market of Casablanca, Morocco, Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. (AP)
Moroccan police officers remind sellers to respect the security measures such as distancing and wearing a mask, in a market of Casablanca, Morocco, Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. (AP)

Morocco has expanded COVID-19 vaccinations to all citizens aged between 55 and 60, the Health Ministry announced on Monday.

The inoculation drive was launched in late January and prioritized medical staff, the elderly and people with chronic diseases.

In order to reach the aspired herd immunity in the kingdom, the health ministry urged targeted citizens to sign up to receive the vaccine by registering through the dedicated website or sending an SMS to 1717.

It stressed the importance of respecting preventive measures before, during and after being vaccinated to contribute to the authorities’ efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani said on Sunday that the vaccination pace in recent weeks has been slow.

He attributed this to the “competition” over the provision of vaccines, which affects the supply. However, he expressed hope to receive new batches of COVID-19 doses soon.

Commenting on the measures taken by the authorities during Ramadan, Othmani said they have proven efficient as demonstrated in the decline in the numbers of coronavirus cases during the first 10 days of the holy fasting month.

Authorities have implemented a nationwide night curfew from 8 pm to 6 am, starting from the first day of Ramadan.

According to the latest Health Ministry briefing on the pandemic, 4,723,635 people have taken the first dose of the vaccine so far, while 4,217,485 citizens have taken both shots.

Morocco recorded 326 new coronavirus cases and four deaths, taking the toll to 8,992 since the beginning of the pandemic.

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Sudan War Destroys World's Only Research Center on Skin Disease Mycetoma

The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File
The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File
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Sudan War Destroys World's Only Research Center on Skin Disease Mycetoma

The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File
The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File

The world's only research center on mycetoma, a neglected tropical disease common among farmers, has been destroyed in Sudan's two-year war, its director and another expert say.

Mycetoma is caused by bacteria or fungus and usually enters the body through cuts. It is a progressively destructive infectious disease of the body tissue, affecting skin, muscle and even bone.

It is often characterized by swollen feet, but can also cause barnacle-like growths and club-like hands, AFP said.

"The center and all its infrastructure were destroyed during the war in Sudan," Ahmed Fahal, director of the Mycetoma Research Centre (MRC), told AFP.

"We lost the entire contents of our biological banks, where there was data from more than 40 years," said Fahal, whose center had treated thousands of patients from Sudan and other countries.

"It's difficult to bear."

Since April 15, 2023, Sudan's army has been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces throughout the northeast African country.

The MRC is located in the Khartoum area, which the army last month reclaimed from the RSF during a war that has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 12 million.

Sudan's health care system has been left at the "breaking point", according to the World Health Organization.

Among the conflict's casualties is now the MRC, established in 1991 under the auspices of the University of Khartoum. It was a rare story of medical success in impoverished Sudan.

A video provided by the global Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) shows collapsed ceilings, shelves overturned, fridges open and documents scattered about.

AFP was not able to independently verify the MRC's current condition.

The center had grown to include 50 researchers and treat 12,000 patients each year, Fahal said.

Mycetoma is listed as a neglected tropical disease by the WHO.

The organisms that cause mycetoma also occur in Sudan's neighbors, including Chad and Ethiopia, as well as in other tropical and sub-tropical areas, among them Mexico and Thailand, WHO says.

For herders, farmers and other workers depending on manual labor to survive, crippling mycetoma infections can be a life sentence.

Drawing on the MRC's expertise, in 2019 the WHO and Sudan's government convened the First International Training Workshop on Mycetoma, in Khartoum.

"Today, Sudan, which was at the forefront of awareness of mycetomas, has gone 100 percent backwards," said Dr. Borna Nyaoke-Anoke, DNDi's head of mycetoma.