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Several diseases that we thought was no longer crossing come back with a certain vigor. The announcement is not new but the concern grows, to the point that the WHO and the alliance of the vaccine sound the alarm. They speak in particular of an increase in cases of measles, meningitis, yellow fever, diphtheria or scabies.
Since 2021, the number of measles cases increased sharply, reaching more than 10 million patients in 2023 worldwide. 61 countries have declared a significant epidemic. In Belgium, the increase is notable but under control. The African continent is affected by cases of meningitis and yellow fever.
American withdrawal
The United States’s decision to withdraw its WHO funding, combined with the reductions in assistance to other countries have plunged the institution’s accounts into the red. The USA is historically the biggest donor, and their withdrawal will cause a series of dismissals to the WHO. The subvaccination and the drop in funding observed in recent years are not the only causes of the return of infectious diseases. Migration phenomena, due in part to climate change, also feed contagion. A human migration (to be captured to vaccinate) and animal.
This revival of diseases that we thought was forgotten comes when vaccination coverage tends to drop. Unsurprisingly, the Covid crisis has caused a distrust of a part of the public. WHO actually points to a disinformation campaign. But not only, since it also notes a drop in budgets devoted to health worldwide. While the return of these diseases will further increase health costs.
150 million lives saved
“Vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives over the past five decades,” said OMS Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. 56 million deaths due to measles would have been avoided thanks to the vaccination between 2000 and 2021. One speech less and less heard despite the regular calls of health players.
A light in the Grisaille at the WHO, the recent agreement concluded, after three years of discussion, to better prepare for future pandemics and the responses to provide. A “historic” agreement, obtained without the United States. In addition, the Belgian Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products revealed that between 2015 and 2025, 553 children declared a side effect after a vaccine. An extremely low figure given the number of vaccinations made in ten years. These effects are available in the form of fever, discomfort or reaction around the injection point.
