In a landmark achievement, the WHO Region of the Americas has become the first WHO Region to eliminate Measles.

The achievement marks the culmination of a 22 year effort to eliminate measles through mass vaccination campaigns throughout the Americas.

Measles is the fifth vaccine-preventable disease to be eliminated from the Americas, after the regional eradication of smallpox in 1971, poliomyelitis in 1994, and rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in 2015.

Useful Links:

Link to the news release:

http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12528%3Aregion-americas-declared-free-measles&Itemid=1926&lang=en

Link to WHO fact sheet on Measles (updated March 2016):

http://who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/

Link to WHO position paper on measles vaccines:

http://who.int/wer/2009/wer8435.pdf?ua=1

Link to WHO’s fact file on measles:

http://who.int/features/factfiles/measles/measles-fact-file.pdf?ua=1