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The UN Children's Fund warns that measles cases worldwide have almost tripled compared to the same period last year.
Photo: 123rf.com
UNICEF said this has created an environment conducive to the major epidemics of the disease.
A report from the children's charity shows that 169 million children have not received a first dose of measles vaccine between 2010 and 2017.
Measles is a highly infectious viral disease that can lead to serious health complications, including lung and brain infections, and is sometimes fatal.
Henrietta Fore, director general of Unicef, said: "The measles virus will always find unvaccinated children.
"If we really want to prevent the spread of this dangerous but preventable disease, we must vaccinate all children in rich and poor countries," she said.
Health experts said children should receive two doses of the vaccine to fully protect themselves from the disease.
But, according to Unicef, a mixture of complacency, misinformation, skepticism about vaccinations and lack of access to vaccines has led to inadequate vaccination rates globally.
The report shows that between 2010 and 2017:
- The United States tops the number of unvaccinated children in high-income countries, with 2,593,000 missing the first dose of vaccine
- The comparable figure for France was 600,000
- The United Kingdom comes third with 527,000 children who have not received their first dose of vaccine over the seven-year period.
- In Nigeria, four million children under one year old have not received the first dose of the vaccine
The figures for the second dose of measles vaccine "were even more alarming," Unicef said.
He found that 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa had not introduced a second dose, which exposed more than 17 million infants annually to an increased risk of contracting measles as children.
Ukraine, Madagascar and India have been the most affected by the disease so far this year, with tens of thousands of cases reported per million inhabitants.
In Madagascar, since September, 700 people have died of measles, many of them children.
Outbreaks also affected Brazil, Pakistan and Yemen, while the number of cases increased significantly in the United States and Thailand.
Outbreaks of measles have recently broken out in Australia and New Zealand.
Half a million British children miss measles
The UNICEF badysis also reveals that more than half a million British children have not received a crucial measles vaccine between 2010 and 2017.
That happens when NHS chief Simon Stevens warned that measles cases had almost quadrupled in England in just one year and urged families to get vaccinated.
He said people who rejected vaccines were a "growing time bomb for public health" and warned that the "deniers of vaccination" were gaining ground on social media.
Professor Beate Kampmann of the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London called these figures "awakening".
She said: "One thing is certain though: a single person with measles will be able to infect 90 unimmunized people."
Public Health England said that although the overall risk for the UK public is small, unvaccinated people are at risk of contracting the disease while epidemics continue in Europe.
Health and Social Affairs Secretary Matt Hanbad has called for new legislation to force social media companies to remove content promoting false information about vaccines.
Meanwhile, the United States has confirmed 695 cases of measles this year, the highest incidence since the country said it eliminated the virus in 2000.
– BBC
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