The Uneven Progress in the Fight Against Measles

Global measles cases rose 20 percent to an estimated 10.3 million in 2023, according to the latest estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 57 countries experienced large or disruptive measles outbreaks in 2023, up from 36 countries the previous year, as the number of countries reporting fewer than five cases per one million population declined from 61 to 47. WHO attributes the surge in cases and outbreaks with inadequate immunization coverage, as progress towards the 95-percent needed to prevent new outbreaks of the highly contagious virus has stalled in recent years.

In 2023, 22 million children missed their first dose of measles vaccine, while only 74 percent of children globally received the recommended second dose for best protection. In several WHO regions, the rate of children with two-dose coverage has stalled or even reverted in recent years, as the Covid-19 pandemic was a major setback in the fight towards measles elimination. That is not to take away from the fact that large progress has been made since the turn of the millennium, as first and second-dose coverage among children worldwide has risen from 71 to 83 percent and from 17 to 74 percent, respectively, between 2000 and 2023.

As is so often the case, the progress has been uneven, however, with Africa trailing behind in immunization levels. Just 49 percent of children in Africa had received two doses of measles vaccine in 2023, far off the 95 percent needed to effectively protect communities against the spread of the disease. As a result, Africa accounted for 64 percent of reported measles cases in 2023, with Europe and South-East Asia also seeing major outbreaks that year.

According to the WHO, an estimated 107,500 people, mostly children under 5 years of age, died from measles in 2023. A death toll the WHO deems "unacceptable" considering the availability of an effective and affordable vaccine. “Measles vaccine has saved more lives than any other vaccine in the past 50 years,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “To save even more lives and stop this deadly virus from harming the most vulnerable, we must invest in immunization for every person, no matter where they live.”