“To date, more than 1.8 billion children have been vaccinated”

This week the American Red Cross is hosting the 2015 Measles and Rubella Partnership Annual Partners Meeting. To date, more than 1.8 billion children have been vaccinated and measles deaths have fallen by 75% globally since 2001, resulting in 15.6 million lives saved. However, the gains are fragile as evidenced by a resurgence of measles in some countries including the United States. This year’s meeting will focus on the human and financial cost of measles and rubella as well as explore what actions are required to achieve the Global Vaccine Action Plan goals, which commit to measles elimination in four WHO regions and rubella elimination in two WHO regions by 2020.