Measles

Laboratory in Lagos bags WHO’s full accreditation for measles and rubella

The Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL) in Lagos, Nigeria has achieved full laboratory accreditation status from the World Health Organization (WHO) for its contribution to the fight against measles and rubella in the country. The CPHL is one of the laboratories under the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Measles and Rubella laboratory network. “WHO full accreditation status attained by the laboratory is a great achievement for Nigeria as quality laboratory is critical to understanding the impact of a country’s vaccination

Measles is an imminent threat worldwide

There has been a significant setback in global progress towards achieving and maintaining measles elimination and the decline leaves millions of children susceptible to infection. Measles vaccination coverage has steadily declined since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, a record high of nearly 40 million children missed a measles vaccine dose: 25 million children missed their first dose and an additional 14.7 million children missed their second dose, a joint publication by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the

Five ways to tackle vaccine hesitancy

The reluctance or refusal to accept Covid-19 vaccinations can be tackled by a five-pronged strategy to addressing the behavioural and socio-demographic factors behind vaccine hesitancy. Writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, a group of population health, demographic, epidemiology and behavioural scientists propose an approach focused on confidence, complacency, convenience, communication and context. While confidence in the safety and efficacy of vaccines is crucial, they write, complacency, particularly among younger people and those of lower socioeconomic status, is