UN warns of rise in vaccine-preventable diseases
April 24, 2025
The WHO, UNICEF and Gavi vaccine alliance on Wednesday warned that there has been a global uptick in outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, meningitis and yellow fever.
The joint statement was made at the start of World Immunization Week, which takes place from April 24-30.
"Vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives over the past five decades. Funding cuts to global health have put these hard-won gains in jeopardy," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
Measles making a comeback
The statement said measles was making a dangerous comeback, with cases rising by 20% within a year to reach 10.3 million in 2023. This upward trend is likely to continue in 2024 and 2025.
In the past year itself, 138 countries have had measles cases with 61 reporting outbreaks. This is the highest number observed since 2019.
"The global funding crisis is severely limiting our ability to vaccinate more than 15 million vulnerable children in fragile and conflict-affected countries against measles," added UNICEF chief Catherine Russell.
In the first three months of 2025, more than 5,500 cases of meningitis and about 300 deaths were reported in 22 African countries. In 2024, 26,000 cases and almost 1,400 deaths were reported across 24 countries.
The statement also said cases of meningitis and yellow fever have been on the rise in Africa in 2024. After a decline over the past decade, 124 cases of yellow fever were reported in 12 countries last year.
Are children being vaccinated enough?
There has also been a rise in children missing their routine vaccine doses, despite efforts being made to catch up after the pandemic. About 14.5 million children missed all of their routine vaccine doses in 2023.
Gavi has called for at least $9 billion (€7.9 billion) in funding ahead of its June 25 pledging summit "to protect 500 million children, saving at least 8 million lives from 2026-2030."
This comes amid massive cuts in vaccine funding, misinformation as well as other humanitarian crises such as the war in Gaza.
US President Donald Trump has drastically cut humanitarian aid to various agencies since taking office.
Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah