WHO and CDC blame a key factor as measles cases rise 20% worldwide

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that measles cases increased by 20% last year, worldwide.

According to health services, this dramatic rise is due to a lack of vaccination coverage in the world’s poorest and conflict-ridden countries.

Almost half of all large and troublesome outbreaks occurred in the African region where the number of deaths rose by 37%, they said.

“Right now, every country in the world has access to the measles vaccine, so there is no reason for any child to get the disease and no child to die from measles,” said WHO’s Natasha Crowcroft, senior technical adviser on measles and the measles. Red, he told reporters.

Measles is caused by an airborne virus that mainly affects children under the age of five, but it can be prevented with two doses of the measles vaccine. However, vaccination coverage was “inadequate” worldwide, the WHO and CDC said.

About 10.3 million cases of the highly contagious infection were reported in 2023, compared with 8.65 million reported the previous year, according to a report by the two agencies.

The number of deaths related to the disease fell by 8% to 107,500 due to improved access to health services and vaccines in high-income countries such as Europe where cases surged last year.

Regardless of the reduction, the death toll was “unacceptable”, the agencies said.

The “biggest and most overwhelming” cause of the rise in cases is the failure of systems to reach children with vaccines, WHO’s Crowcroft said. However, vaccination hesitancy also played a role.

Vaccination hesitancy has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, as people have lost confidence in the importance of routine childhood vaccines against diseases such as measles and polio.

More than 22 million children missed their first dose of the measles vaccine in 2023, the agencies said.

That year, devastating measles cases were reported in 57 countries due to gaps in vaccination coverage, representing a nearly 60 percent jump from 36 countries the year before, the report said.

In addition to the African region, a significant increase in cases was reported in the Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, Southeast Asia and Western Pacific regions, the report said.