What is the issue?
- There is a 59% decrease in the number of reported measles cases globally during 2000 to 2018, but there has been a spike since 2016.
- Because of this, there is a need to increase the public awareness of vaccine importance and reduce Vaccine Hesitancy.
What is the situation worldwide?
- Globally - Compared with over 1,32,000 reported measles cases in 2016, the numbers shot up to over 3,53,000 in 2018.
- While the numbers in 2018 were more than double the previous year, the numbers in 2019 have already surpassed those of 2018.
- By mid-November 2019, over 4,00,000 cases were reported globally.
- Since measles surveillance is generally weak, WHO and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention resorted to estimating the number of measles cases and deaths.
- Based on an updated estimation model, there have been nearly 10 million cases and over 1,42,000 measles deaths in 2018.
- Most affected nations - In 2018, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Somalia, and Ukraine accounted for 45% of all reported cases.
- The situation in Ukraine is grim with a sharp increase in reported cases.
- But, there has been a decline in the other three countries mentioned that reported the most number of cases in 2018.
- Vaccine hesitancy - This has been highlighted for the staggering spread in cases globally.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) in a report held that Vaccine hesitancy is among the top 10 threats to global health in 2019.
- The WHO defines Vaccine hesitancy as a delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccination services.
Why is there a spread of Vaccine hesitancy?
- In DR Congo, there is low institutional trust, misinformation, vaccine shortage and even attacks on health-care centres and workers leading to the spread of both measles and Ebola.
- The Philippines and the small Pacific island of Samoa serve as a textbook case of the sudden emergence of vaccine hesitancy.
- In Philippines, usage of a newly approved vaccine with the risks associated with it already known, lowered the public trust in vaccines; so low vaccine coverage led to measles and polio outbreaks.
- In Samoa, an error in preparing the MMR injection (MMR - Measles, Mumps, and Rubella injection) led to the death of two infants.
- Fear-mongering led to a fall in vaccine uptake, leading to an outbreak of measles.
- In many European countries and the U.S., vaccine hesitancy has been on religious grounds and primarily due to anti-vaccination campaigns spreading fake news about vaccine safety.
What could be done to counter vaccine hesitancy?
- To counter rising hesitancy, about a dozen European countries have already introduced laws making vaccination mandatory.
- New York City too introduced such a law when the U.S. nearly lost its measles elimination status.
- Such laws may prove counterproductive in the long run, and the only way to increase vaccine uptake is by educating the public.
- With 2.3 million children not vaccinated against measles in 2018, India has much to do to protect its young citizens.
Source: The Hindu
