Over 140,000 people have died from measles in 2018 despite the fact that the disease was declared eradicated two decades ago.

According to the CDC and WHO, who dubbed the situation as an “unprecedented crisis,” things have taken a turn for the worse three years ago, just around the time when the anti-vaxxers movement started gaining popularity worldwide.

As per the statistic, there were a total of nearly 9.8 million cases of measles reported in 2018. Out of these, more than 140,000 resulted in death.

While in many parts of the world, such as in certain African countries, lack of access to vaccines is to blame for the rise in cases, the increase is also evident in developed countries where the anti-vaccination movement has influenced tens of thousands of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.

In addition, UNICEF has warned that two million more people were diagnosed with measles and there were 20,000 more deaths in the year 2018 than in 2017.

In the US alone, the number of measles cases in 2018 reached its highest point since 1994. On the other side of the Atlantic, the countries with the highest rate of measles in 2018 included the UK, Greece, Albania, and the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, Ukraine has also experienced a drastic surge in measles cases due to anti-vaccination efforts of the members of the public.

“The fact that any child dies from a vaccine-preventable disease like measles is frankly an outrage and a collective failure to protect the world’s most vulnerable children,” WHO’s director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus said.

“To save lives, we must ensure everyone can benefit from vaccines – which means investing in immunization and quality health care as a right for all.”

Speaking on the matter was also UNICEF UK’s head of advocacy Liam Sollis who said:

“This data shows the stark global impact of this devastating and entirely preventable disease. With vaccination rates in the UK falling and recently losing our measles free status, an outbreak is now a ticking time bomb.

“Too many children are being put at unnecessary risk – with half a million children in the UK unvaccinated against measles. It’s crucial to build trust with parents and improve access to vaccine services. No child should be denied their right to be protected from vaccine-preventable disease.”

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