By UN Journal Kayla Lee

Measles deaths have dropped by 88 per cent since 2000 – yet an estimated 95,000 people, mostly children, still died from the virus last year, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Nov. 28.

Officials said global outbreaks are accelerating as millions of children remain under-immunized following years of COVID-19 pandemic-related disruption, according to the UN News.

“Measles remains one of the most contagious respiratory viruses,” said Dr. Kate O’Brien, WHO’s Director of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals.

“One person can infect up to 18 others. Many people think measles is not serious – but it is, and it can be deadly. One in five infected children ends up in the hospital.”

Last year, around 11 million people worldwide were infected, nearly 800,000 more than in the pre-pandemic period. Most of the deaths occurred in children under five, with about 80 per cent in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean.

“But no child needs to suffer the consequences of measles,” Dr. O’Brien stressed. “Two doses of vaccine provide 95 per cent protection. The tragedy is that children are unprotected because the system is not reaching them.”

Measles outbreaks continue to rise sharply. In 2024, 59 countries experienced large or disruptive outbreaks – almost three times as many as in 2021 – and a quarter of them had previously eliminated measles.

Only 84 per cent of children globally received their first dose of measles vaccine last year, but just 76 per cent received the crucial second dose – leaving as many as 30 million children under-protected. Three-quarters of them were in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, many in conflict-affected or highly mobile communities.

“Measles respects no borders,” said Diana Chang-Blanc, Head of WHO’s Essential Programme on Immunization. “A country is only protected when every child, everywhere is fully immunized.”