Despite access challenges, considerable success has been achieved in halting the spread of measles in Syria. In 2019, following a rise in the number of confirmed cases of measles in two consecutive years (2017 and 2018), WHO supported four mass measles vaccination campaigns to control the outbreak and strengthen routine immunization activities in all governorates. Only 27 cases of measles were confirmed in 2019, compared with 738 and 329 in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
In northern Syria, 716 suspected measles cases were reported in 2019, a figure 25 times lower than the 17 931 cases reported a year earlier. The highest numbers of suspected cases were from Idleb, Aleppo (northwest Syria) and Ar-Raqqa (northeast Syria). The significant decrease can be partly attributed to the two measles and rubella vaccination campaigns conducted in 2018 as well as increased routine immunization services in the northwest.
