WHO: Insufficient vaccination resulted in more than 200,000 measles deaths in 2019
November 13th. According to the United Nations website, on the 12th local time, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) jointly issued a report saying that the global measles vaccination has been Failed to reach the best coverage rate in 2019, about 207.5 million people died of measles in 2019, which is the highest record in 23 years.
According to reports, the number of measles deaths in 2019 was 50% higher than the record low in 2016. There has been an increase in measles cases in all WHO regions, bringing the global total to 869,770.
Although the number of cases in 2020 has decreased, Coronavirus Pandemic has further hindered vaccination efforts. As of November 2020, 26 countries have suspended vaccination activities, and more than 94 million people are at risk of missing measles vaccination.
According to reports, measles is completely preventable, but to be successful, 95% of children need to receive two doses of measles-containing vaccines (MCV1 and MCV2) on time. For more than ten years, the global coverage of MCV1 has stagnated between 84% and 85%, while the coverage of MCV2 has been increasing steadily, but it is currently only 71%.
Natasha Crocroft, WHO senior technical adviser on measles and rubella, said that since 2000, measles vaccination has saved more than 25.5 million lives worldwide. However, due to the low vaccination rate, the number of unprotected children is increasing every year.
She pointed out that weak health systems and inaccessibility of children are the main problems facing the world, and in some countries, reluctance to vaccinate is another problem.
