Worldwide deaths from measles fell by 78 percent between 2000 and 2008 due, in large part, to the efforts of mass childhood vaccination campaigns. Unfortunately, experts fear that measles death rates may rise again if immunization efforts are not maintained.

According to the Measles Initiative, death rates for measles decreased from 733,000 in 2000 to approximately 164,000 in 2008. Large-scale immunization programs resulted in the vaccination of nearly 700 million children against measles and have prevented an estimated 4.3 million measles deaths. Unfortunately, India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh seem to be lagging behind the global trend. In these southeast Asian countries, measles deaths fell less than 50 percent between 2000 and 2008. In fact, three out of every four children who died from measles in 2008 were in India. 

The Measles Initiative is anticipating a $59 million funding gap for 2010, and this deficit could lead to resurgence in measles deaths. According to the group, the combination of decreased financial and political commitment to measles vaccination could result in about 1.7 million measles-related deaths between the years 2010 and 2013. 

In the U.S. and England, the number of measles cases has risen in recent years, likely due to parents’ fears of an association between immunization and autism. While most regions of the world, excluding Southeast Asia, have reached the United Nations goal of reducing measles deaths by 90 percent from 2000 to 2010, the Measles Initiative warns that continued efforts are needed to minimize measles death. 
 

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Adapted from Reuters Health, 3 December 2009.