Measles jabs saved nearly 20 mn lives in Africa since 2000: WHO, Gav
TDT | Geneva
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Increasing vaccine coverage has helped avert nearly 20 million measles-related deaths in Africa since 2000, according to a report published yesterday.
In their first-ever detailed analysis of immunisation targets on the continent, the World Health Organization and the Gavi vaccine alliance estimated that 19.5 million measles deaths had been averted in Africa between 2000 and the end of 2024.
And during the same timeframe, routine immunisation had protected more than 500 million children across Africa against a range of other deadly diseases, the report found.
“This analysis, highlighting 24 years of remarkable progress on the African continent, demonstrates the immense life-saving power of vaccines when immunisation is prioritised as a matter of policy,” Gavi chief Sania Nishtar said in a joint statement.
Since the start of the century, 44 African countries have introduced into their routine immunisation programmes a second vaccine dose against measles -- one of the world’s most contagious diseases.
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