NEW YORK/GENEVA, 6 February 2014 (UNICEF): UNICEF today noted that the drop in measles demonstrates the importance of investing in vaccines and immunisation – both routine and mass campaigns – as estimated global measles deaths decreased by 78 per cent from more than 562,000 in 2000 to 122,000 in 2012.
During this time period, it is also estimated that 13.8 million deaths were prevented by measles vaccination.
In 2012, 145 million children were vaccinated in mass campaigns against measles; and more than 1 billion have been reached since 2000 with the support of the Measles & Rubella Initiative, launched in 2001 by UNICEF, American Red Cross, the United Nations Foundation, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization (WHO).
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Measles continues to be a global threat with five of six WHO regions experiencing large outbreaks, jeopardizing (truer) measles elimination progress in these regions.
The Region of the Americas achieved measles elimination with the last endemic case reported in 2002 and continues to maintain this status though it is still responding to many importations of measles cases.
The latest data is published in this week’s CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and WHO Weekly Epidemiological Report.
Global measles elimination goals can be found in the Strategic Plan from the Measles & Rubella Initiative. http://www.unicef.org/media/media_71877.html
