A supplement to the July issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, "Global Progress Toward Measles Eradication and Prevention of Rubella and Congenital Rubella Syndrome," looks at the global efforts to eradicate measles.
Unfortunately, talk of global measles eradication by 2020 is facing a setback as measles cases have increased. Still, even with the high number of measles cases in the United States this year and record numbers in many other developed countries, the collection of articles concludes that "measles can and should be eradicated."
As a reminder of why eradicating measles is important, people should keep in mind that:
- there were about 2.6 million deaths each year before the routine use of the measles vaccine
- in 2008, there were about 164,000 deaths each year from measles, mostly in children
- reduced financial support and political commitment for measles eradication programs could result in a great rise in measles and measles deaths, up to over 500,000 deaths a year by 2013
The Measles Initiative, with the American Red Cross, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Nations Foundation, UNICEF and the World Health Organization, is working towards a 2015 goal of "to reduce measles mortality by 95% or more in comparison with 2000 estimates."
If they can hit the 2015 goals, then maybe a bigger goal of global measles eradication will be possible and we won't be talking about measles outbreaks anymore.
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