Declared "eliminated" in the Americas , measles still kills tens of thousands of children elsewhere in the world every year, despite the availability of safe, affordable and effective vaccines. It remains a top killer of children worldwide, and took nearly 115,000 lives in 2014 — or about 13 deaths every hour — according to the World Health Organization (WHO). "However, since measles continues to circulate worldwide, some countries continued to report imported cases," PAHO said in a statement. Most were children younger than five, a group among which measles remains a top killer. In 1980, before widespread vaccination, measles claimed an estimated 2.6 million lives every year — dropping to 547,000 in 2000.

Source: Daily Nation September 28, 2016 12:33 UTC