WHO warns that progress towards eliminating measles has stalled
2015 targets will not be met
News release
[Excerpt]
13 November 2014 ¦ GENEVA – WHO warned today that progress towards the elimination of measles has stalled. The number of deaths from measles increased from an estimated 122 000 in 2012 to 145 700 in 2013, according to new data published in the WHO Weekly Epidemiological Report and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The estimated number of measles deaths in 2013 represents a 75% decline in mortality since 2000, significantly below the target of a 95% reduction in deaths between 2000 and 2015.
“Poor progress in increasing measles vaccination coverage has resulted in large outbreaks of this highly contagious disease, throwing the 2015 elimination targets off-track,” said Dr Peter Strebel from the WHO Department of Immunization, Vaccines, and Biologicals.
“Countries urgently need to prioritize maintaining and improving immunization coverage. Failure to reverse this alarming trend could jeopardize the momentum generated by a decade of achievements in reducing measles mortality.”
Member States of all 6 WHO Regions have set goals for measles elimination. “Countries urgently need to prioritize maintaining and improving immunization coverage. Failure to reverse this alarming trend could jeopardize the momentum generated by a decade of achievements in reducing measles mortality,” said Dr Strebel.
Meeting these goals on time is one of the 6 goals of the Global Vaccine Action Plan, endorsed by all Member States at the World Health Assembly in 2012. Despite being vaccine-preventable, measles is still an important cause of death and disability among children worldwide. Strong efforts are needed to maintain the current level of control and to continue reducing the number of cases and deaths. WHO and its partners in the Measles & Rubella Initiative have been warning for a number of years that the disease has the potential to rebound if vaccination and surveillance efforts are not maintained and strengthened.
While the increase in the disease in 2013 was in large part due to outbreaks in China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria, sizeable outbreaks were also reported in other parts of the world. Progress is stalled in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region, where weak health systems and conflict and population displacement have hampered vaccination efforts. Meanwhile, the European region has seen measles re-emerge with outbreaks in a number of countries including Georgia, Turkey and Ukraine, and renewed high-level political commitment is needed to reverse this trend…

The Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) for 14 November 2014, vol. 89, 46 (pp. 509–516) includes:
:: Global progress towards regional measles elimination, worldwide, 2000–2013
http://www.who.int/entity/wer/2014/wer8946.pdf?ua=1