47% of global measles deaths in India

NEW DELHI: Nearly half of all deaths due to measles globally occurred in India in 2010.

While mortality due to measles dipped from 5.35 lakh in 2000 to 1.39 lakh globally in 2010, India recorded 47% of those deaths in comparison to 16% of global deaths in 2000.

New research by the World Health Organization (WHO), Penn State University and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that while globally, measles mortality fell by 74% between 2000 and 2010 that is still short of the 90% target, in India the numbers dipped by 26% during the same period.

Published in the British medical journal, The Lancet, the study blamed India's relatively low measles vaccine coverage (74%) as the reason why the disease remained a major cause of death in the country.