Measles Vaccinations: Saving Millions of Lives Worldwide

By Gail McGovern, President and CEO the American Red Cross  The unfolding outbreak of measles across the country has focused attention on whether parents should get their children vaccinated against measles and other diseases. This is a question the Red Cross answers approximately 100 million times a year around the world with life-saving vaccinations. Mothers and children wait in line to be vaccinated in Cotonou, Benin after being informed of the campaign by Red Cross house-to-house mobilizers. American Red Cross/Javier Acebal. Measles is one of the most contagious diseases ever known. When one person has measles, 90 percent of the people they come into close contact with will become infected, if they are not already immune. Fortunately, since the 1960’s we have had the means to vaccinate people against measles to help immunize them. Despite the availability of an inexpensive measles vaccine, in the year 2000 over 562,000 children died worldwide from measles complications each year. Measles weakens the immune system and opens the door to secondary health problems, such as pneumonia, blindness, deafness, and brain damage. In 2001, the American Red Cross, UNICEF, CDC, WHO, and the United Nations Foundation formed a partnership—the Measles & Rubella Initiative (M&RI)—and decided to do something that has turned into one of the most successful public health stories in our lifetimes. Supported by generous donors, the Red Cross and its M&RI partners have vaccinat...
Source: Red Cross Chat - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: International Source Type: news