April 25, 2019

Andrew Campbell

UNICEF and the World Health Organization carried out an analysis which estimated the national immunization coverage of 194 countries for 2017. The report showed 169 million children worldwide were not given the first dose of measles vaccine between 2010 and 2017. Based on the analysis, there were more than half a million children in the UK not given a crucial measles jab between 2010 and 2017.

Measles is well known a highly infectious viral illness that can lead to serious health complications including infections of the lungs and brain, and is sometimes fatal. Children ought to have two doses of the vaccine to fully protect themselves against the disease.

Chief Simon Stevens of the National Health Service (NHS), a publicly funded national healthcare system for England, warned measles cases had almost quadrupled in UK in just one year and urged families to get the vaccine. He said alarmingly children rejecting measles vaccines was a "growing public health time bomb".

UNICEF reported that 2,593,000 children in the United States and 169 million children worldwide missed out on their first dose between 2010 and 2017. That's an average of roughly 20 million children a year. According to the UNICEF report, measles killed 110,000 people worldwide, mostly children, in 2017. That's up 22% from the year before.

Secretary Matt Hancock of the Health and Social Care called for new legislation to enforce social media to remove misleading information about measles vaccines. UNICEF also said efforts are underway to address the situation including procuring more vaccines and helping countries identify unreached children.