WASHINGTON – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says after  years of hard work, the Americas Region, including the Caribbean, regained its measles-free status in 2024. It said that this marks the region’s return to this milestone, first achieved in 2016. In 2023, the Americas reported the lowest number of measles cases in its history, with only 73 cases. Additionally, vaccination coverage for the first dose of the Measles, Rubella, and Mumps (MMR1) vaccine increased for the first time since 2019, reaching 8 per cent coverage. PAHO said that its disease elimination imitative continues to make progress, with the goal of eliminating over 30 communicable diseases and related conditions by 2030. It said the region also celebrated key milestones, including 30 years without wild polio virus  and the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis in Belize, Jamaica and St Vincent and the Grenadines, and lymphatic filariasis  in Brazil. (Jamaica-Gleaner)

Photo: In 2023, the Americas reported the lowest number of measles cases in its history, with only 73 cases.  (Photo via CMC )