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By: Mark Leon Goldberg on February 18, 2019
A measles outbreak that ravages children in several US states, including Washington and Oregon, has made hundreds sick of children, many of whom have not been vaccinated. Thousands of others have been exposed to this highly contagious and sometimes deadly virus. The Philippines is also at the heart of an epidemic, where more than 150 children were killed.
These measles-related diseases and deaths occur despite the fact that vaccines are routinely available and extremely safe. We have known for years that vaccination, including routine immunization of children, against diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella, prevents children from dying on a relatively large scale. We also know that, as a health intervention, most vaccines and vaccination programs are relatively inexpensive.
New research now suggests the added benefit of a measles vaccine: it can prevent poverty.
Dr. Angela Chang led an innovative study that shows that vaccines can be an effective tool in preventing people in developing countries from losing their income and becoming exacerbated in extreme poverty. Specifically, she reviewed dozens of vaccines and vaccination campaigns in developing countries and used statistical modeling and badysis to determine the relationship between what is called medical impoverishment and the vaccination coverage.
The study was published in the journal Health Affairs while she was a doctoral candidate at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Angela Chang is now a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
We begin the conversation by discussing what we mean by medical impoverishment before having a longer conversation about his discoveries.
If you have 20 minutes and you want to know how vaccines are not only saving lives, but also fighting poverty, then listen to them.
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