Children under the age of five accounted for most of the 140,000 people who died from measles in 2018, according to new estimates released today by the World Health Organization and the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention on behalf of the Measles and Rubella Initiative.
“The unacceptable number of children killed last year by a wholly preventable disease is proof that measles anywhere is a threat to children everywhere,” said the UNICEF’s Executive Director.
“When children go unvaccinated in significant numbers, entire communities are at risk. We see that even today in remote places like in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where measles has killed more than 4,500 children under the age of five so far this year; or in Samoa, where a rapidly spreading measles outbreak has left many children ill and unable to go to school.”
Measles cases more than doubled in 2018 compared to 2017.
According to WHO, there were 353,236 reported cases in 2018 compared to the provisional reporting of over 413,000 cases by mid-November in 2019.
Poor vaccination coverage and large pockets of unvaccinated children have resulted in devastating measles outbreaks in many parts of the world.
(Source: UNICEF)
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