Measles eliminated in four Western Pacific countries – WHO

The World Health Organization has declared the elimination of measles in four of 37 areas it covers in the Western Pacific, a region that is home to more than 1.8 billion people and includes some of the world’s poorest countries. Australia, Mongolia, South Korea and Macau have successfully managed to eliminate measles, a panel of experts from the WHO Western Pacific Region announced Thursday. A country can be verified as having eliminated the virus if it goes for three years without reporting any endemic or local transmission. Measles kills roughly 330 people a day around the world, mostly children. In 2012 the incidence of the virus in the Western-Pacific was at a historic low, with around 33 of the 37 countries in the region ready for verification. Deaths due to measles dropped from more than 12,000 in 2000 to just 2,000 in 2012. WHO attributed the drop in fatalities largely to an increase in...