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Deaths from measles hit historic low
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published January 19, 2007
LONDON - Global measles deaths have dropped by 60 percent, health authorities announced in a report Friday, and one senior official called it a "historic victory" for public health. Nearly 7.5-million children were saved from dying of measles from 1999 to 2005, thanks to increased immunization campaigns, the World Health Organization said. More than 360-million children were vaccinated against measles during that period. Though no longer a major problem in the West, in poor countries the disease can kill 30 percent of the children it infects. Health authorities had hoped to cut measles mortality rates in half by 2005, but exceeded that goal by 10 percent. In Africa, the results were even more striking: Measles deaths fell by 75 percent. "It's not very often that global health initiatives ... actually exceed their goals faster than expected," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[Last modified January 19, 2007, 01:33:04]
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