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Measles, meningitis, and yellow fever, once largely contained through widespread immunization, are resurging globally due to vaccine misinformation, reduced international aid, and health system strain, the United Nations and partner agencies warned Wednesday.
Marking World Immunization Week, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said vaccine-preventable outbreaks are rising worldwide, placing millions at risk and threatening decades of progress.
“Vaccines have saved over 150 million lives in the past five decades,” Tedros said. “Funding cuts to global health are putting these hard-won gains at risk.”
Measles is making what the WHO, UNICEF, and GAVI called a “particularly dangerous comeback.” In 2023, an estimated 10.3 million measles cases were reported globally, a 20% increase from 2022. Large-scale outbreaks occurred in 61 countries over the past year, the highest total since 2019.
Meningitis and yellow fever have also surged across Africa in 2024, officials said.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell attributed the spike to a combination of disinformation, population growth, humanitarian crises, and shrinking aid budgets. Nearly 50 countries are struggling to maintain routine vaccination, surveillance, and outbreak response services, conditions echoing the COVID-19 pandemic era.
In 2023, about 14.5 million children missed routine vaccinations, up from 13.9 million in 2022 and 12.9 million in 2019.
With a global donor summit set for June 25, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) is seeking at least $9 billion in new funding to protect 500 million children and save 8 million lives between 2026 and 2030.
With information from Athens-Macedonian News Agency.
