WHO And CDC Move To Bridge Miss Out On Measles Immunization

<h4>WHO And CDC Move To Bridge Miss Out On Measles Immunization<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that a joint publication by the World Health Organization &lpar;WHO&rpar; and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention &lpar;CDC&rpar; highlighted that a record high number of children missed out on measles vaccine in 2021&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;With the drop in coverage has come an alarming increase in outbreaks&comma; demonstrating the need to restore routine immunization coverage&comma; and work towards longer-term outbreak control through re-doubling efforts to reach zero dose children and communities that consistently miss out on immunization and other essential health services&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The report also highlights the long-term trend and the power of vaccines to save lives&colon; mortality has decreased by 83&percnt; during the period 2000–2021 &lpar;from 761&comma;000 to 128&comma;000 deaths annually&rpar;&comma; with an estimated 56 million measles deaths averted by vaccination&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;As a primary emphasis&comma; Gavi&comma; the Vaccine Alliance works with its partners WHO&comma; UNICEF and others to support routine immunization activities in lower-income countries – helping countries introduce a second dose of measles containing vaccine &lpar;MCV2&rpar; into routine programs and&comma; given the 95&percnt; coverage rate required&comma; conduct vital preventive catch-up and follow-up campaigns to reach un- or under-immunized children&period; In response to the alarming state of global measles coverage&comma; the Alliance recently announced a push to reach 85 million children across at least 22 lower-income countries through the first half of 2023&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Working through the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;punchng&period;com&sol;">Measles and Rubella Initiative&&num;8217&semi;s &lpar;M&amp&semi;RI&rpar; Outbreak Response Fund &lpar;ORF&rpar;&comma;<&sol;a> Gavi is also the main funder of measles outbreak response activities in lower-income countries – providing a total of US&dollar; 85 million to cover the more than 60 country applications for outbreak response support the ORF has received since 2013&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Commenting &comma; Dr&period; Seth Berkley&comma; the Chief Executive Officer of Gavi said&colon;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;The significant decline in measles coverage is alarming&period; Gavi is supporting lower-income countries to get routine immunization programmes back on track&comma; and continues to fund global outbreak response through the MR&amp&semi;I&&num;8217&semi;s Outbreak Response Fund&period; As an Alliance we are also pushing further&comma; with targeted efforts to reach zero dose children and communities that consistently miss out on immunization and other essential services&period; This is fundamental to reducing outbreaks and keeping health systems strong and resilient in the face of other threats&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;