WHO says more must be done to control measles

GENEVA, Switzerland, April 13 ------ The World Health Organization called for greater efforts to combat measles, which is spreading in 58 countries including the United States, where two children have died. The Geneva-based UN agency also stressed that the measles vaccine is safe and effective.  

"I'll just remind folks that measles is one of the most infectious viruses, so measles anywhere is measles everywhere," Kate O'Brien, director of the WHO's vaccine department, told a press conference. She avoided criticism of US President Donald Trump and his Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., an outspoken vaccine skeptic. 

Kennedy has been accused of not doing enough to combat the deadly measles outbreak, which has its epicenter in Texas where there have been hundreds of cases. He has only recently recognized the effectiveness of the vaccine. "The US is working to control the outbreak and to shut the outbreak down," O'Brien said. But she added that "for any country, as long as an outbreak is going on, not enough is yet happening. We could only say enough is happening when the outbreak has ended." 

O'Brien said the disease is spreading because of declines in vaccination levels, partly because of disruptions caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. "The measles vaccine is an incredibly safe vaccine, and it's an incredibly effective vaccine," O'Brien said. 

Source: manilatimes.net