Title : Measles vaccination coverage indicators in 2023 and advance towards measles elimination and eradication by 2030
Abstract:
The Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030) proposed by the 73rd World Health Assembly in 2020 committed to eliminating measles in at least five of the six WHO regions by 2030. Mean percentages of vaccination coverage with two, one and zero doses of measles vaccine in WHO regions in 2023 were calculated using data from the WHO/UNICEF global and regional immunization information system. The study found that in 2023, the two-dose measles vaccination coverage was lower than 95% in all WHO regions and anti-measles herd immunity levels were sufficient to block the transmission of measles viruses with greater transmissibility (Ro of 15) only in the Western Pacific and European WHO regions. All measles vaccination-coverage-related indicators worsened from 2019 to 2023. The global two-dose measles vaccination coverage decreased by 3.7%, the global zero- dose measles vaccination coverage increased by 7.8%, and the prevalence of vaccine-induced protected individuals (target population) decreased by 0.6%. In 2023, the zero-dose measles vaccination coverage and number of zero-dose measles children observed were not on track to achieve the AI2030 objective. To advance towards measles elimination from WHO regions and measles eradication worldwide it is necessary to develop ambitious strategies to increase routine two-dose measles vaccination coverage in all WHO regions, and to prevent measles transmission among different WHO regions.
