Hearing loss

• However, new challenges, such as the disruption of health systems caused by COVID-19, have underscored the importance of measles as a public health concern.
• A recent surge in cases in countries such as Canada from which it had largely disappeared has helped draw new attention to this old disease.

Measles in Canada

• Measles is one of the most infectious diseases known to science; nine out of 10 susceptible people will become infected if exposed.
• Vaccination is such an effective tool that, in Canada, measles has been considered eliminated since 1998.
• In short, measles is emerging as a public health problem in Canada once again.

Measles in humanitarian settings

• In humanitarian settings like those where MSF operates, aggravated by poor living conditions and malnutrition, it can be disastrous.
• For these reasons and more, vaccinating against measles is one of the first priorities for MSF teams in humanitarian emergencies, particularly in situations where people are forcibly displaced and living in crowded conditions like a camp.
• In 2024, MSF is seeing record-breaking cases of measles in some of the places where our teams work, such as northeastern Nigeria.

Growing impact of vaccine-preventable diseases

• These gaps in coverage of vaccine-preventable diseases are having significant impacts on global public health.
• For several years, MSF has been warning of growing outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in places where we work that have significant implications for people living there, but also for global public health — including impacts on countries susceptible to imported cases, such as Canada.
• Governments and other global health funders generally understand why childhood vaccinations are important for primary health care.

Adam R Houston works for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as the Medical Policy & Advocacy Advisor. Jason Nickerson works for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as the Humanitarian Representative to Canada.