United Nations, Oct 27 : The United Nations and other international agencies have warned that the world was still far from reaching goals on eliminating measles despite the fact that the annual deaths from the disease had dropped below 100,000 last year.
“We have seen a“substantial drop in measles deaths for more than two decades, but now we must strive to reach zero measles cases,” said Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele, Director of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Department of Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals, in a joint statement on Thursday for the Measles and Rubella Initiative (MR&I).
The study, published by MR&I – a partnership formed in 2001 between the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), WHO, UN Foundation, American Red Cross, and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – marks the first time that global measles deaths have fallen below 100,000 per year.
“Measles elimination will only be reached if measles vaccines reach every child, everywhere,” added Dr Okwo-Bele.
UNI
