Deaths due to measles have dropped by 88% since the year 2000, but the cases of infection are on the rise
An unprecedented public health success and, at the same time, a warning sign. Measles kills far fewer people than it did two decades ago, but it continues to circulate where vaccination coverage remains insufficient.
The world immunisation campaigns have managed a historical milestone by reducing death due to measles by 88% between 2000 and 2025, saving almost 59 million lives thanks to the mass deployment of an effective and economic vaccine. However, this success lives alongside a worrying paradox, as although the deaths have dropped, the contagions have shot up reaching 11 million infections per year, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. While regions such as Africa have managed to reduce cases and deaths by way of improving the cover, the virus has taken advantage of the breaches in immunity in other areas such as Europe and Asia.
What is the public health response?
The main challenge faced in order to bring an end to the disease lies in the fact that the current cover – 84% in the first dose and 76% in the second on, continues to be insufficient against the threshold of 95% necessary to stop the transmission. This lack of protection has left over 30 million children vulnerable and has tripled the serious outbreaks with respect to 2021. In spite of this, the healthcare response has not stopped and the reinforcement of the epidemiological monitoring and the diagnosis capacity have allowed 96 countries to manage to eliminate the disease.
