The World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, in a report, Thursday, that measles caused the death of about 207 thousand and 500 people around the world, last year.
The number is 50 percent higher than in 2016, when measles deaths reached a record low. The disease deaths have risen annually since then.
"We know how to prevent measles outbreaks and deaths," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
"These data send a clear message that we are unable to protect children from measles in every region of the world," he added.
Although the number of registered cases this year was lower than last year, health agencies have warned that vaccination campaigns have temporarily stopped in 26 countries as a result of the Covid 19 disease pandemic.
