Measles cases in Morocco drop by 80% as Health Ministry expands vaccination efforts

Yesterday, during a parliamentary session in the House of Representatives, Minister of Health and Social Protection, Amine Tahraoui, announced an 80% decrease in measles cases in Morocco. This significant drop is in comparison to the highest rate recorded 16 weeks prior.

In response to a query from the National Rally of Independents parliamentary group regarding «updates on the progress of the measles vaccination campaign in our country», the Minister elaborated that the weekly incidence rate has reached one case per 100,000 inhabitants nationwide. He emphasized that since the emergence of the first measles cases, the Ministry has implemented a national plan to combat its spread, alongside various field measures.

Tahraoui presented the epidemiological surveillance results for the disease, indicating that as of May 16th, the vaccination status of over 10.76 million children under 18 years old has been verified. This represents 98.57% of the target age group.

The Minister further explained that this initiative identified 754,202 unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children. Thanks to intensive on-the-ground efforts, 586,912 of these children have received their catch-up vaccinations, achieving an implementation rate of approximately 78%. This has substantially helped in reducing the vaccination coverage gap and curbing the spread of the epidemic.

The Minister of Health and Social Protection noted that these efforts have also resulted in the administration of a total of 801,702 doses of the measles vaccine, including supplementary and preventative doses. He highlighted that the campaign has enabled the country to surpass a 95% national revised average for complete measles vaccination among all children under 18, which is the rate recommended by the World Health Organization.