Gates Says Vaccine Hesitancy Derails Measles Eradication

Measles eradication is off the Bill Gates Foundation's list of goals. Gates told Reuters vaccine hesitancy in rich countries forced the change. "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," he said. "I think that's kind of tragic." Roughly 100,000 children die of measles each year, largely where conflict or logistics block immunization, down from 2 million before the 1960s vaccine. WHO says rates must exceed 95 percent to prevent outbreaks. Cases rose in the US and Europe as rates fell. Gates said, "There's always that concern that if you have doubters in the U.S., that becomes a global thing," but "we haven't seen an increase in vaccine hesitancy in the countries the foundation works in." Sources described rising hesitancy as part of a wave of skepticism championed for decades by U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Aid cuts led by the Trump administration were followed by the UK and Germany. Gates said restored funding and other groups' efforts held off worse outcomes. He said, "The most dire predictions, which went above 10 million deaths, we don't see that taking place." "It's still a very tragic situation." What is contested and who says what: No factual dispute found in the record. Outlets differ only in emphasis.