Badra Essa was thrilled to learn that a measles vaccination campaign was coming to her village in remote Ethiopia. A Red Cross volunteer had visited her house before when her eldest son, Atatef, fell ill with measles. The chance to vaccinate and protect her youngest son was an opportunity she couldn’t miss.
“I felt so sad when Atatef was ill”, Essa said. “He was sick for three months. Now I tell my neighbors to vaccinate their children. It is so important to prevent this disease.”
The Measles & Rubella Initiative, a partnership the American Red Cross helped establish, is reducing measles deaths worldwide by helping to monitor the spread of the disease and conducting massive countrywide vaccination campaigns. Since 2001, 1.1 billion children have been vaccinated against this devastating disease.