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http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JID/journal/issues/v187nS1/021075/brief/021075.abstract.html
The Journal of Infectious Diseases 2003;187:S1-S7
© World Health Organization 2003. All rights reserved. The World Health
Organization has granted the Publisher permission for the reproduction of this
article.
0022-1899/2003/18710S-0001
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| SUPPLEMENT ARTICLE |
The Unfinished Measles Immunization Agenda
Peter Strebel,1 Stephen Cochi,1 Mark Grabowsky,2 Julian Bilous,3 Bradley S. Hersh,3 Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele,4 Edward Hoekstra,4 Peter Wright,5 and Samuel Katz6
1Global
Immunization Division, National Immunization
Program, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Atlanta,
Georgia; 2International Services, American
Red Cross, Washington, DC; 3Expanded
Programme on Immunization, World
Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland;
4United Nations Children's Fund,
New York, New York; 5Department
of Pediatric Infectious Diseases,
Vanderbilt University, Nashville,
Tennessee; 6Department of Pediatrics,
Duke University Medical Center,
Durham, North Carolina
| Despite achieving and sustaining global
measles vaccination coverage of about 80% over the
past decade, worldwide measles remains the fifth
leading cause of mortality among children aged
<5 years. In May 2002, the United Nations
Special Session on Children endorsed the goal
of reducing measles deaths by half by 2005.
Countries and World Health Organization (WHO) regions
that adopted aggressive measles control or
elimination strategies have shown excellent results.
In 2001, countries in the Americas reported an
all time low of 537 confirmed measles cases.
Substantial progress in measles control has also
been achieved in the WHO Western Pacific
Region, in seven southern African countries,
and in selected countries in WHO European, Eastern
Mediterranean, and Southeast Asian regions. The
ongoing measles disease burden and availability
of safe and effective measles mortality reduction
strategies make a compelling case to complete
the unfinished agenda of measles immunization.
|
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