Measles strikes fear into UN chiefs

Noting a 300 per cent surge in the number of measles cases during the first three months of this year, compared to the same period last year, two UN agency heads have declared that we now stand “in the middle of a global measles crisis.

“Cases have soared across the world, including in places where measles had previously been eliminated, like the United States,” asserted Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO).

Measles is almost entirely preventable through two doses of a safe and effective vaccine, despite being highly contagious. The UN agency chiefs painted “an alarming picture” of the rate of infection, saying that “by the time you finish reading this, we estimate that at least 40 people – most of them children – will be infected by this fast-moving, life-threatening disease.”

Following two years of consecutive increases, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Myanmar, Philippines, Sudan, Thailand and Ukraine are all in the midst of current outbreaks. It’s also spreading fast among clusters of people, who are resisting vaccination, in countries with high overall vaccination rates, including the United States, Israel, Thailand and Tunisia.

“We're worried not only because measles can be so severe, it still causes over 100,000 deaths every year, but also because it’s extremely contagious,” said the agency chiefs.

Referring to it as “the canary in the coalmine of vaccine-preventable illnesses,” the UNICEF and WHO heads explained that “around the world, millions of children are still missing out on lifesaving vaccines, leaving them and their communities vulnerable to disease and deadly outbreaks.”

Living in countries where healthcare systems are challenged by poverty and conflict, many lack access to effective vaccines.  But “in several high and middle income countries," the heads lamented, “there are parents who are delaying or refusing to vaccinate their children because they're unsure of the need for vaccines or that vaccines are safe.”