Countries, including the United States, cutting down funding for life-saving global health projects could jeopardize vaccination programs that protect children and adults from deadly diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
The recent abrupt changes in donor budgets and capacity in global health has put a severe strain on immunization programs, particularly to measles prevention efforts, at all levels, the UN health agency said.
Measles is a highly contagious airborne viral illness characterized by fever and a distinctive rash, which remains a significant cause of death among children globally, according to the WHO.
READ MORE: UN: Child vaccination rates start to recover but not everywhere
The best protection against measles is through the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine as there is no specific treatment once a person is infected. The WHO recommends two doses of the measles vaccine for all children.
The United States is currently battling one of the largest measles outbreaks it has seen in the past decade, with more than 300 cases since late January.
The outbreak has been fueled by declining vaccination rates in parts of the US where parents have been falsely persuaded that such shots do more harm than good.
The backsliding in immunization has partly been a result of "concerns that people have related to misinformation around measles vaccine, (which) is creating an environment where measles cases are occurring again in places around the world that have already eliminated measles," said Kate O'Brien, Director at the WHO's immunization department.
US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr had initially downplayed news that a school-aged child had died of measles in Texas, the first such death in a decade, calling such outbreaks ordinary and failing to mention the role of vaccination to prevent measles.
READ MORE: UN: Global conflicts slowed vaccination rate of children in 2023
He had also told parents vaccination was a personal choice and urged them to consult with their physicians in his opinion piece published on Fox News.
