WHO sounds alarm as measles cases rise 79% in 2023

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded the alarm over the alarming rise in measles cases worldwide, reporting a staggering 79% increase over the previous year, with over 306,000 cases to be recorded in 2023. Business Recorder mentionted.

Natasha Crowcroft, WHO technical adviser on measles and rubella, conveyed the seriousness of the situation, stressing that measles cases are likely to be significantly underreported, indicating a potentially much higher true number.

While the UN health agency has yet to run modeling for the past year, its latest estimate for 2022 revealed 9.2 million cases and 136,216 measles-related deaths.

Crowcroft highlighted a 43% increase in deaths in 2022, predicting a difficult year with a possible increase in deaths in 2023 as the number of cases escalates.

With more than half of the world’s countries believed to be at high risk of measles outbreaks by the end of the year and an estimated 142 million children vulnerable to the disease, the situation is described as “very challenging”.

Measles, a highly contagious disease that mainly affects children, can lead to serious complications such as blindness, brain swelling, diarrhea and respiratory infections.

The rise in cases is attributed to declining vaccination coverage, as at least 95% of children need full vaccination to prevent outbreaks, but global rates have fallen to 83%.

The distribution of cases is marked by significant inequality, with 92% of measles-related childhood deaths occurring in less than a quarter of the world’s population, mostly in very low-income countries.

WHO highlights the urgent need for concerted efforts to address this resurgence and strengthen global vaccination coverage to limit the spread of measles.