The number of deaths from measles has fallen by 79 percent worldwide since 2000, thanks mainly to mass vaccination campaigns, but nearly 400 children still die from the disease every day, global health experts said on Thursday.
In a report on global efforts to “make measles history”, the United Nations children’s fund, the World Health Organization and other bodies said fight was being hampered not by a lack of tools or knowledge, but a lack of political will to get every child immunized against the highly infectious disease.
“Without this commitment, children will continue to die from a disease that is easy and cheap to prevent,” said Robin Nandy, UNICEF’s head of immunization.
