Abstract
For over 50 years, a safe, effective and inexpensive vaccine has been in use but several challenges continue to hamper universal coverage and the sustained control of measles. Before the year 2000, measles was killing over 700,000 children each year worldwide of which 60% occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa [1]. Epidemiologic reports showed that although an estimated 15.6 million deaths had been prevented by measles vaccination between 2000 and 2013, progress has stalled and previous gains are being reversed [2]. Measles related deaths vary depending upon the average age of infection, the nutritional status of the population, measles coverage, HIV infection, vitamin A deficiency and access to health care [3]. The death rate due to measles is so high in Africa that, on average, a child dies every minute. To make the matter worse, every person with measles has a 90% chance of infecting people with whom they come into close contact, if they are unvaccinated [1]. Yet a single dose of measles vaccine is proven to be 93% effective at preventing disease in vulnerable populations exposed to the virus at a relatively low cost ($1 US dollar). The fact that many lives are still lost to this vaccine-preventable virus remains a key concern for global health.
Citation
Mendel OG, King SK and Sekandi JN. Vaccination Coverage and Sustaining Control of Measles in Africa: A Global Health Perspective. SM Vaccine Vaccin. 2015;1(2):1007.