Why Death By Measles Still High In Nigeria

Do you know why death by measles is still high in Nigeria, amongst some other developing countries?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United States Centres for Disease Control (CDC) have revealed the reason in a recent study.

In a recent joint press release, citing a recent study, the two bodies, said years of declines in measles vaccination coverage, has seen measles cases increase by 18% in 2022, and deaths by 43% globally (compared to 2021).

Worse, they add is that Nigeria like those other peers have lowest vaccination rates, currently put at 66%.

That rate, the health agencies say, show no recovery at all from the backsliding that had taken place during the pandemic.

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“The lack of recovery in measles vaccine coverage in low-income countries following the pandemic is an alarm bell for action.

“Measles is called the inequity virus for good reason. It is the disease that will find and attack those who aren’t protected,” said Kate O’Brien, WHO Director for Immunization, Vaccine and Biologicals.

“Children everywhere have the right to be protected by the lifesaving measles vaccine, no matter where they live.“ 

WHO says of the 22 million children who missed their first measles vaccine dose in 2022, over half live in just 10 countries: Nigeria, Angola, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Pakistan and Philippines.

​​Death by measles in the above countries has therefore been an issue of concern.

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To that extend, the two bodies now urge countries to find and vaccinate all children against measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

They also encourage global stakeholders to aid countries to vaccinate their most vulnerable communities.

“In addition, to help prevent outbreaks, all global health partners at the global, regional, national, and local levels must invest in robust surveillance systems and outbreak response capacity to rapidly detect and respond to outbreaks”..

This, according to them, takes the estimated number of cases to 9 million and death by measles to 136 000 – mostly among children.