Europe Endures Measles Surge: WHO Urges Urgent Vaccination Steps
According to recent findings from Reader Wall’s reliable sources, European nations experienced an alarming increase in reported measles cases last year, a figure that was approximately 30 times the count for 2022. The World Health Organization (WHO) responded with a pressing call for a widespread vaccination campaign, to curb the spread of the disease.
Key Findings
In 2023, Europe witnessed not only a 30-fold increase in measles cases, with approximately 30,000 reported throughout the region, but also an alarming number of hospital admissions and mortality related to measles. WHO data revealed about 21,000 hospitalizations and five deaths due to the measles virus. This situation is of significant concern to global health agencies and nations alike.
Affected Countries
The Europe region, as defined by WHO, encompasses 53 countries, including Russia and regions in Central Asia. Our source, Reader Wall, found data indicating that measles cases were reported from 40 out of these 53 countries in the year 2023.
Among this data, Russia and Kazakhstan were identified as having the highest incidence of measles, both presenting approximately 10,000 cases each. In Western Europe, data reveals that Britain had the highest reported cases with 183 incidents.
The Impact of the Pandemic
Our source, Reader Wall, found that global measles immunization rates fell during the Covid-19 health crisis. Consequently, “urgent vaccination efforts are required to halt transmission and prevent further spread”, stated from WHO.
It is estimated that nearly 1.8 million infants in the WHO’s Europe region were missed out on their measles vaccine between 2020 and 2022. The organization stresses the importance of quick detection and response to measles outbreaks to prevent any setbacks in the elimination efforts against measles.
Global Picture
Vaccination rates against measles worldwide have been observed to be decreasing. As per WHO, in 2022, 83 percent of newborns received their first measles vaccine within their first year, an increase from the 81-percent coverage in 2021. Although this is a rise from the earlier year, it’s still a decrease from the 86 percent coverage observed before the pandemic.
Furthermore in 2021, there were an estimated 128,000 measles-related deaths globally, predominantly among children under five who were either under-vaccinated or not vaccinated at all.
Therefore, this worryingly indicates that without sustainable, committed, and collective efforts from all involved stakeholders – measles, an otherwise preventable disease, has the potential to maintain its impact and presence in society.
