HQ Team
November 16, 2024: Measles cases worldwide have risen 20% year-on-year in 2023 to about 10.3 million due to inadequate access to vaccines, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization.
More than 22 million children missed their first dose of measles vaccine in 2023, according to WHO estimates and data from the US-based Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
Measles is preventable with two doses of measles vaccine. Globally, an estimated 83% of children received their first dose of measles vaccine last year, while only 74% received the recommended second dose.
Coverage of 95% or greater of two doses of measles vaccine is needed in each country and community to prevent outbreaks and protect populations from one of the world’s most contagious human viruses.
‘Increase vaccine access’
The data showed that an estimated 107,500 people, mostly children younger than five years of age, died due to measles in 2023.
“The number of measles infections is rising around the globe, endangering lives and health,” said CDC Director Mandy Cohen. “The measles vaccine is our best protection against the virus, and we must continue to invest in efforts to increase access.”
The measles vaccine has saved more lives than any other vaccine in the past 50 years, said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
“To save even more lives and stop this deadly virus from harming the most vulnerable, we must invest in immunisation for every person, no matter where they live.”
As a result of global gaps in vaccination coverage, 57 countries experienced large or disruptive measles outbreaks in 2023, affecting all regions except the Americas, representing a nearly 60% increase from 36 countries in the previous year.
Blindness, pneumonia
The WHO African, Eastern Mediterranean, European, Southeast Asia and Western Pacific regions experienced a substantial upsurge in cases. Nearly half of all large or disruptive outbreaks occurred in the African region.
Even when people survive measles, serious health effects can occur, some lifelong. Infants and young children are at greatest risk of serious complications from the disease, which include blindness, pneumonia, and encephalitis — an infection causing brain swelling and potentially brain damage.
As measles cases surge and outbreaks increase, the world’s elimination goal, as laid out in Immunization Agenda 2030, is under threat.
Disease surveillance
Eighty-two countries had achieved or maintained measles elimination at the end of 2023. Earlier this week, Brazil was re-verified as having eliminated measles, making the WHO Americas Region free of endemic measles. Except for the African Region, at least one country in all WHO regions has eliminated the disease.
Countries and global immunisation partners must strengthen disease surveillance, including the Global Measles Rubella Laboratory Network, according to the report.
Strong disease surveillance is critical to optimizing immunization programmes and detecting and responding rapidly to measles outbreaks to mitigate their size and impact.
The CDC and WHO are founding members of the Measles & Rubella Partnership, a global initiative to stop measles and rubella. The partnership also includes the American Red Cross, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the United Nations Foundation, and UNICEF.
