Wiping out measles impossible due to vaccine hesitancy in rich countries, says Gates

LONDON: Vaccine hesitancy in rich countries means ending measles as a global public health threat is not currently possible, Bill Gates told Reuters in an interview.

The Microsoft co-founder turned billionaire philanthropist said wiping out the killer childhood disease had previously been a potential goal for his eponymous foundation, which focuses on global health and the world's poorest people.

But it was now off the table due to increased vaccine hesitancy in wealthier nations, part of a wave of skepticism championed for decades by the now health secretary in the United States under President Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

"At one point, the foundation wanted to eradicate measles, but the vaccine hesitancy in rich countries has meant that's not on our list of goals," Gates said. "I think that's kind of tragic."

Measles, among the world's most contagious diseases, causes a high fever, a cough and a tell-tale rash.

The virus killed around two million children every year before the introduction of a vaccine in the 1960s.

Nowadays, around 100,000 children die annually, largely in countries where conflict or logistics make immunisation difficult.

The WHO says vaccination rates need to be above 95 per cent to prevent outbreaks.

But recent years have also seen a surge in cases in countries where the disease was almost forgotten, including in the United States and Europe, as vaccination rates have fallen.

Gates said that vaccine hesitancy had at least not spread to lower-income countries, where measles can be much deadlier than in richer countries due to malnutrition and healthcare gaps.

"There's always that concern that if you have doubters in the U.S., that becomes a global thing," he said.

"But we haven't seen an increase in vaccine hesitancy in the countries the foundation works in."

Gates was speaking ahead of the foundation's annual Goalkeepers event, which looks at progress towards the United Nations global development goals set for 2030, including on improving health.

In last year's report, Gates warned of the impact of aid cuts led by Trump's administration, and followed by other wealthy countries like the UK and Germany, on the health of the world's poorest.

This year, he said the cuts had likely caused many deaths, but the restoration of some money had prevented the worst-case scenario.

Efforts from impacted countries and other health groups also held off disaster, as Reuters has reported.

"The most dire predictions, which went above 10 million deaths, we don't see that taking place," Gates said, adding that he continued to urge governments to restore aid or at least not cut it further. "It's still a very tragic situation."