The Measles Initiative announced that it “has helped vaccinate one billion children in more than 60 developing countries since 2001, making significant gains in the global effort to stop measles,” noting that the child who received the history-making measles vaccination was one of 3.5 million immunized in Mozambique this May. The immunization campaign was sponsored by the Measles Initiative’s five founding partners – the American Red Cross, United Nations Foundation, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, and World Health Organization (WHO).

The announcement noted that since 2009, widespread outbreaks affecting 30 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia, have resulted in more than 320,000 new measles cases and more than 2,400 measles-related deaths. In the past year, several European nations have faced their worst measles outbreaks in more than 10 years, with more than 30 000 estimated cases across the region. The U.S. is also experiencing its largest measles outbreak since 1996, with more than 150 reported cases, the announcement said. “The steady march toward a measles-free world is now facing a setback,” said Dr Brent Burkholder, director of the CDC’s global immunization division. “Outbreaks in Africa, a high number of deaths in India and global funding gaps threaten the gains made in the last ten years and will hinder efforts to eradicate measles and achieve MDG4.” http://www.who.int/immunization/newsroom/press/measles_initiative_vaccinates_billion_4august2011/en/index.html