The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday warned of an increased risk of measles spread, with global cases up nearly 80% in 2022 as compared with 2021, reported Reuters.
In a news release on Wednesday, the WHO and UNICEF said nearly 17,338 measles cases were reported worldwide in January and February 2022, compared to 9,665 during the first two months of 2021.
The organizations noted that there were 21 large and disruptive outbreaks, a number of them in Africa and the East Mediterranean region.
The organizations said the COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions, inequalities in access to vaccines, and the diversion of resources from routine immunization have left a huge number of children without protection against measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
The WHO and UNICEF said as more and more countries relax Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, measles outbreaks become more likely.
“It is encouraging that people in many communities are beginning to feel protected enough from COVID-19 to return to more social activities,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF executive director. “But doing so in places where children are not receiving routine vaccination creates the perfect storm for the spread of a disease like measles.”
The organizations said twenty-three million children missed out on childhood vaccinations in 2020 and that children’s vaccination campaigns have been hindered recently by the Covid-19 pandemic and conflicts in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Afghanistan.
The WHO and UNICEF said 57 vaccine-preventable disease campaigns in 43 countries that were set to begin since the start of the pandemic are still postponed, impacting 203 million people, most of whom are children. 19 out of 57 are measles campaigns, which put 73 million children at risk of measles due to missed vaccinations.
According to the two organizations, coverage at or above 95 percent with two doses of the safe and effective measles vaccine can protect against measles.
