Immunisation gaps lead to measles: Report

Nearly 400 children still die from the disease every day, global health experts say

The number of deaths from measles has fallen by 79% worldwide since 2000, thanks mainly to mass vaccination campaigns, but nearly 400 children still die from the disease every day, global health experts said on Thursday.

In a report on global efforts to “make measles history”, the United Nations children’s fund, the World Health Organisation and other bodies said fight was being hampered not by a lack of tools or knowledge, but a lack of political will to get every child immunised against the highly infectious disease.

“Without this commitment, children will continue to die from a disease that is easy and cheap to prevent,” said Robin Nandy, UNICEF’s head of immunisation.
 

Mass measles vaccination campaigns and a global increase in routine vaccine coverage saved an estimated 20.3 million young lives between 2000 and 2015, the report said.

But coverage is patchy, and in some countries, the majority of children are not vaccinated. In 2015, around 20 million babies missed their measles shots and an estimated 134,000 children died from the disease.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan account for half of the unvaccinated babies and 75% of the measles deaths.

Measles is a highly contagious virus that spreads through direct contact and through the air. It is one of the biggest killers of children worldwide but can be prevented with two doses of a widely available and inexpensive vaccine.

According to the report, published by UNICEF, the WHO, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) vaccines alliance and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, outbreaks of measles in various countries — caused by gaps in immunisation — are still a major problem.

Seth Berkley, GAVI’s chief executive, urged governments to recognise the threat of “one of the world’s most deadly vaccine-preventable childhood killers” and act to contain it.

“We need strong commitments from countries and partners to boost routine immunisation coverage and to strengthen surveillance systems,” he said. In 2015, large outbreaks were reported in Egypt, Ethiopia, Germany, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, the report said.