New research says high-income countries are not helping to eliminate measles

vaccine policies in some high-income countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, may not be sufficient to meet the goal of eliminating measles, and need to be further strengthened, according to a May 17 report published online in the British journal BMC Medicine.
recently, there have been large-scale measles outbreaks in many parts of the world, including the United States. By mid-April, 170 countries had reported more than 112,000 measles cases to the organization this year, up 300 percent from the same period last year, according to the World Health Organization.
researchers, including the Bruno Kessler Foundation in Italy, used computer models to simulate measles immunization in seven high-income countries between 2018 and 2050. These countries include the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Italy, Singapore and South Korea.
found that under the current vaccination policy, only Singapore and South Korea could keep the proportion of people susceptible to measles below 7.5 per cent of the relatively safe level to achieve and maintain the goal of eliminating measles, while the other five countries would need to maintain coverage of routine vaccination programmes above 95 per cent or further strengthen compulsory vaccinations for children enrolled in schools to ensure that the proportion of vulnerable populations was less than 7.5 per cent by 2050.
measles elimination is defined as the absence of measles in an area for 12 months or more. In recent years, researchers say, measles has made a comeback in countries that have previously announced the elimination of measles, even in high-income countries. This is mainly due to the unsatisfactory vaccination coverage. In western countries such as the United States, people have "anti-vaccine" sentiment because of some misunderstandings about vaccines, choosing not to vaccinate when they are eligible for vaccines such as measles, a situation the World Health Organization calls "vaccine hesitancy".
research team said that in order to achieve and maintain the medium- and long-term measles eradication target, countries need to build on existing policies to further strengthen epidemic prevention efforts, such as compulsory vaccination of children at school
(Source: Zhang Jiawei, Xinhua News Agency)
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