03 Feb Working for a Measles Free Nigeria
For the last ten years, I have seen thousands of children cry after being pricked by needle for a vaccination against measles –a deadly disease that is preventable by one quick, albeit painful, shot.
I witnessed it again this week in northern Nigeria, as the country launched a nationwide integrated measles campaign to protect 31 million children against the deadly disease. Every child nine months to five years old is receiving a measles vaccine, in addition to an oral polio vaccine for newborns through five year-olds.
Americans, who haven’t seen widespread measles outbreaks in the U.S. in decades, might be surprised to learn that measles still kills more than 450 people each day and that children are still at risk of paralysis from contracting polio.