Commitment of measles elimination by 2020: challenges in India

Abstract

The eleven member states of World Health Organization South-East Asia Region committed to eliminate measles by 2020. In phased manner, Government of India is working on this goal, and has introduced two-dose strategy for measles vaccine in the routine immunization. Molecular epidemiology of measles in India has been considerably growing that would be useful for understanding the circulation of wild type measles in pre- and post-elimination period. However, importations of cases from other countries may be likely. This article describes major challenges to achieve the measles elimination goal in India.