Vaccines could prevent the deaths of 732,000 children who were born over the past two decades.
The Vaccines for Children program (VFC) was started in 1994 in an effort to battle the hundreds of measles deaths that occurred every year, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention news release reported.
This year marks the 20 year anniversary of the program, but the rate of measles cases is on the incline. Despite widespread vaccinations there were 129 reported measles cases this year and 13 outbreaks. In 2011 there were 220 cases, which is the highest the rate has been since 1996.
"Thanks to the VFC program, children in our country are no longer at significant risk from diseases that once killed thousands each year," CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H, said in the news release. "Current outbreaks of measles in the U.S. serve as a reminder that these diseases are only a plane ride away. Borders can't stop measles, but vaccination can."
Thirty-four of the 129 measles cases reported this year were believed to have been acquired in other countries and brought back to the U.S. Most of the measles cases were in non-vaccinated individuals.
Measles is extremely contagious and spreads quickly through the non-vaccinated population.
The CDC recommends two doses of the MMR vaccine for every individual who is 12 months or older. One does is recommended for nfants between the ages of six and 11 months who are going to travel internationally.
Despite the rise in measles cases the VFC is working hard to provide vaccines to children who's parents otherwise couldn't afford them. The CDC estimates the program will save $295 billion in hospital costs from illness and death as a result of disease, it could also raise $1.38 trillion in "total societal costs."
"The health security of the United States is only as strong as the health security of all nations around the world. We are all connected by the food we eat, the water we drink, and air we breathe," Frieden said. "Stopping outbreaks where they start is the most effective and least costly way to prevent disease and save lives at home and abroad - and it's the right thing to do."
