UK loses measles elimination status after rise in deaths and fall in jab uptake

The UK is one of six countries in Europe and Central Asia that the World Health Organisation (WHO) says is no longer measles-free. 

Measles is an infection that spreads very easily and can cause serious problems in some people. If you think you or your child may have measles, ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111. 

Call your GP surgery before you go in. They may suggest talking over the phone or arrange for you to come to a part of the surgery where you’re separated from others.

The UK achieved measles elimination in 2016, but this was short-lived, with endemic transmission re-established due to outbreaks linked to a measles resurgence across Europe in 2018.

In 2021, the UK regained measles elimination status based on a significant decline in measles circulation globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Measles activity started to increase in the UK and globally in 2023. Based on data submitted for 2024, when the UK experienced a large measles outbreak, the WHO and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that endemic transmission of the virus was reestablished. 

Children in Britain are offered two doses of the MMR jab, at 12 and 18 months old, but public health officials have warned that falling vaccination rates have allowed measles to take hold of the UK once more. 

Ben Kasstan-Dabush, assistant professor of global health and development at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said, “Sustained measles transmission reflects a decade long decline in routine vaccination coverage and the persistent failure in the UK to reach the 95% measles vaccine coverage threshold recommended by WHO. Profoundly low coverage in areas such as Hackney underscores the unequal distribution of risk and harm to children.”

Dr Helen Stewart, the officer for health improvement at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “The UK measles resurgence is a failure of policy, not parenting. While vaccine hesitancy plays a role in low vaccine uptake, the reality is that there are many who simply need better support and easier access to appointments.

“When appointments are difficult to get and support isn’t there, the system ends up failing the very families who need it most.”