According to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), 117 million children in 37 countries may not get immunised on time this year. The COVID-19 coronavirus has headlined front covers and news since it emerged in December 2019. To date, more than 3.5 million have been infected with the deadly virus.
Measles cases have been rising across the globe in 2019, with global data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) last month showing that reported cases rose by 300 percent in the first three months of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.
Just 10 countries were responsible for three-quarters of a global surge in measles cases last year, the United Nations (UN) children's agency said Friday, including one of the world's richest nations, France.98 countries reported more cases of measles in 2018 compared with 2017, and the world body warned that conflict, complacency and the growing anti-vaccine movement threatened to undo decades of work to tame the disease."This is a wakeup call.
A growing band of immunisation detractors is driving a surge in measles cases from the Philippines to Washington State that threatens to derail efforts to wipe out the disease.Worldwide cases of the viral illness increased by about 50 percent to more than 229,000 last year, according to preliminary data from the World Health Organization (WHO), which included “vaccine hesitancy” in its list of top 10 threats to global health this year.
As of November, Thailand health officials have recorded 1,500 cases and 12 deaths due to the outbreak of measles in the Southern provinces of the country.
Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released data showing that over 41,000 children and adults in Europe have been infected with measles in the first six months of 2018, resulting in 37 deaths. Ukraine, plagued by conflict between the eastern secessionist territories and the Kiev government, has been the hardest hit with over 23,000 people affected.
