Some 400 children are dying from measles every day globally because of patchy progress with vaccination programmes, a major report warned last night.
Deaths have fallen by 79% this century – but 20 million children still missed out on vaccinations last year, according to the joint report from UNICEF, the World Health Organisation, the Vaccine Alliance Gavi and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 50% of the deaths are in India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Indonesia, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Americas are reported to be free of measles.
The report warns that failures in vaccination can last for decades.
Last year major outbreaks in Germany and Mongolia affected unvaccinated adults.
Dr Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele, from WHO, said: “It is not acceptable that millions of children miss their vaccines every year. We have a safe and highly effective vaccine to stop the spread of measles and save lives.
“This year, the Region of the Americas was declared free of measles – proof that elimination is possible. Now, we must stop measles in the rest of the world. It starts with vaccination.”
Dr Seth Berkley, of Gavi, said: “To address one of the world’s most deadly vaccine-preventable childhood killers we need strong commitments from countries and partners to boost routine immunisation coverage and to strengthen surveillance systems.”
* The Lancet today reports that global progress on cutting child deaths has been achieved through tackling measles, malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea and perinatal death.
Some 5.9 million children died worldwide last year – four million fewer than in 2000.
Lancet 11 November 2016 [abstract]
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