Measles Initiative

1. Project Manager of J.T. Hoggard High
2. Project Manager of E. Ashley High
3. Project Manager of YOUR SCHOOL

Health - Diseases and Disease Research

Each year a disease that has virtually been eliminated in the Western Hemisphere kills nearly 345,000 people globally, and of those, most are children under the age of five. Measles is a leading vaccine-preventable childhood killer and millions of children still remain at risk. There is good news. Measles can be prevented with a simple vaccination that costs less than one dollar per child.

The Measles Initiative, launched in 2001, is a partnership committed to reducing measles deaths globally, supporting the goal of cutting measles deaths by 90 percent by 2010 compared with estimates from 2000. During 2000-2005 more than 360 million children were vaccinated globally. During its first five years (2001-2005), the Initiative was the main international supporter of mass measles immunization campaigns that led to the vaccination of more than 217 million children, predominantly in Africa.

From 1999-2005, measles deaths in Africa dropped by 75%, from 506,000 to 126,000, largely due to the support provided by the Measles Initiative and the commitment of African governments.

Building on its success in Africa, the Initiative has expanded into Asia. The Initiative increasingly provides additional life-saving health interventions in its campaigns, including Vitamin A, de-worming medicine and insecticide-treated bed nets for malaria prevention. In 2007, for the first time, the Measles Initiative will support vaccination campaigns in each of the six WHO regions of the world.

Leading the Measles Initiative efforts are the American Red Cross, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United Nations Foundation, UNICEF and the World Health Organization.