Last Updated: 2003-05-22 15:50:39 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - More than 770,000 children died from measles in 2000, international health experts said Thursday, and the World Health Organization (WHO) is asking for more money to fight the disease in developing nations.

Inadequate vaccination in the regions where most of these deaths occur, the new report suggests, is due to insufficient internal and international investment in the health infrastructures and vaccination programs of poorer countries.

As such, a resolution to the World Health Assembly, on Saturday, will ask countries to "contribute actively" to achieve United Nations goals for cutting childhood measles deaths worldwide, the WHO said in a press release.

The WHO and the U.N. Children's Fund estimate that an additional $200 million will be needed to implement a comprehensive measles strategy over the next three years in the 45 countries that account for nearly all measles deaths globally.

Measles is a respiratory disease caused by a virus, with symptoms including rash, fever, cough and a runny nose. In some cases, the infection causes serious complications such as pneumonia or brain inflammation, and is sometimes fatal. However, measles vaccination -- given routinely in developed nations -- usually provides lifelong immunity against the disease.

A dose of measles vaccine costs only 25 cents, which includes the equipment to provide a safe injection, according to the WHO.

Nevertheless, about 777,000 children died from measles worldwide in 2000, researchers from the WHO and elsewhere report in the May 23rd issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Of these deaths, 58 percent occurred in Africa and 26 percent in Southeast Asia.

"The measles deaths occurred overwhelmingly among children living in poor countries with inadequate vaccination services," the researchers write.

"To prevent these deaths, stronger political commitment is needed to provide all children worldwide with two opportunities for measles immunization."

In 2000, measles was the fifth-leading cause of death worldwide among children younger than 5, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"Like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), malaria, and tuberculosis, measles can be considered a disease of poverty," the CDC notes in an editorial published with the report.

"However," the agency adds, "unlike these diseases, measles can be prevented through vaccination."