Post 01049E : MEASLES GOAL AND RELATED MATERIAL

Post 01049E : MEASLES GOAL AND RELATED MATERIAL 3 February 2007 ________________________________________ As many of you probably know already, WHO has announced officially on January 19, 2007, that the goal of measles mortality reduction by 2005 has been well achieved. We should all be proud, especially for Africa. According to authors, "Africa achieved the largest total reduction, contributing 72% of the global reduction in measles mortality". For those interested in more details, please visit WHO pages at : http://www.who.int/immunization/newsroom/measles/en/index.html Now the world moves on to the next goal, a 90% reduction of measles deaths by 2010. You will find below some material of interest on measles. As this means a good deal of reading, I will limit my own comments. We thank Diana Chang Blanc (mailto:[email protected]), Evelyn Chege (mailto:[email protected]) and Robert Davis (mailto:[email protected]) for their input to this posting. ________________________________________ The article below is the fundamental material upon which WHO has based its claim that the goal for 2005 has been achieved. It was officially published in "The Lancet" just the day after the announcement. "Has the 2005 measles mortality reduction goal been achieved? A natural history modelling study" by Dr Lara J Wolfson PhD, Peter M Strebel MBChB, Marta Gacic-Dobo BS, Edward J Hoekstra MD, Jeffrey W McFarland MD and Bradley S Hersh MD, for the Measles Initiative ; The Lancet, Volume 369, Number 9557, 20 January 2007 http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS014067360760107X/fulltext (Registration required, but free) --------------------------------- "Global measles elimination" by William J. Moss and Diane E. Griffin ; Nature, vol.4 , December 2006 http://www.technet21.org/pdf_file/GlobalMeaslesElim_Nature_RevMicrobiol2006.pdf Excellent article with a review of the virus, the disease and its epidemiology, nicely illustrated. ---------------------------------- "Exploring the time to intervene with a reactive mass immunization campaign in measles epidemics" by R.F. Grais, X. de Radiguès, C. Dubray, F. Fermon and P.J. Guerin ; Epidemiology and Infections, vol. 134, issue 4, August 2006 http://www.technet21.org/pdf_file/MeaslesEpidemicsTimingIntervention.pdf From their experience in Kinshasa and Niamey, authors challenge the widely-held view that mass immunization is unjustified once an epidemics has started. ---------------------------------- "Framework for National Plan of Measles Elimination in China, 2006-2012" downloadable from : http://www.technet21.org/fichiers_Word/FrameworkForNationalPlanMeaslesElimChina.doc This is an example of a rather well-designed planning document. The document highlights the challenge faced by China in particular, but also the Western Pacific region as a whole. ______________________________________________________________________________ All members of the TechNet21 e-Forum are invited to send comments on any posting or to use the forum to raise a new discussion or request technical information in relation to immunization services. The comments made in this forum are the sole responsibility of the writers and do not in any way mean that they are endorsed by any of the organizations and agencies to which the authors may belong. ______________________________________________________________________________ Visit the TECHNET21 Website at http://www.technet21.org You will find instructions to subscribe, a direct access to archives, links to reference documents and other features. ______________________________________________________________________________ To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message to : mailto:[email protected] Leave the subject area BLANK In the message body, write unsubscribe TECHNET21E ______________________________________________________________________________ The World Health Organization and UNICEF support TechNet21. The TechNet21 e-Forum is a communication/information tool for generation of ideas on how to improve immunization services. It is moderated by Claude Letarte and is hosted in cooperation with the Centre de coopération internationale en santé et développement, Québec, Canada (http://www.ccisd.org) ______________________________________________________________________________