The Measles & Malaria Partnership: Nearly 25 Years Saving Lives of Vulnerable Children Overseas

By Carol Miller

A deadly measles outbreak in Texas, and new cases identified in additional states, has healthcare officials, parents and others on edge. We thought this would be a good time to update ARCAN members on the effective work American Red Cross and partners have done since 2001 to address the Measles Epidemic in Africa and other countries, which saves lives and helps contain the spread of the disease. Many ARCAN members worked on, were touched by or donated funds to the Measles Initiative.

Following is a Q&A with James Noe (photo below) senior program manager of the Measles & Rubella Partnership at American Red Cross National Headquarters. 

Red Cross Protecting Kids from Measles & Rubella: One Shot at a Time...

1. Does the American Red Cross still donate a certain amount of money per year to the Measles & Rubella Partnership to vaccinate children overseas?  

The American Red Cross still provides money each year to the Measles & Rubella Partnership (M&RB) through our annual pledge. Since 2001, as an organization we have provide more than $191 million dollars to the Partnership. These funds are typically provided through a grant to the UN Foundation who then transfers it to UNICEF or WHO. Supported activities include the purchase of vaccine doses for use in M&RP supported vaccination campaigns or to programs to address bottlenecks to elimination in Middle Income Countries (MICs). While MICs continue to have a significant number of cases of measles and rubella and can in fact be responsible for the exportation of the diseases to neighboring countries, they are ineligible for funding from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance which provides resources to the vast majority of global immunization programs. The American Red Cross is one of the few avenues for critical funding support in MICs, so our annual pledge has become even more impactful.

2. What are your concerns about the current increase in Measles cases in some U.S. states?  

Parts of the U.S. are unfortunately trending downward in Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccination coverage for children. This leaves pockets of unvaccinated communities in states throughout the U.S., which sadly leaves thousands of children unprotected against one of the most contagious diseases in the world. While thought of by some as a mild disease, measles can result in serious complications including pneumonia, encephalitis of the brain and death. In 2023, more than 107,000 children, mostly under the age of 5, died from complications of measles. As part of the measles outbreak in West Texas, the first measles death in the U.S. was recorded since 2015, this was even more tragically a school age child who could have easily been protected through vaccination.

3. Does it still cost $1 per child vaccinated for Measles, or what is the new figure for a Measles vaccine, and one for the Rubella vaccine? 

Yes, in a low income country it still cost only $1 to vaccinate a child against measles. The $1 includes all associated costs such as the manufacturing of the vaccine by the Serum Institute of India, the transporting of the vaccines to the country, the maintaining of the cold chain through the entire journey, the materials including syringes, dilutant and burn boxes, and the wage of the healthcare worker to administer the vaccine to a child. For the combined measles and rubella vaccine, the cost goes up by $1 dollar for a total of $2 dollars to protect a child for life against both diseases with one shot.

4. What countries or regions outside of the continent of Africa has the Partnership vaccinated? 

While the vast majority of vaccination campaigns are conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa, as the region maintains the highest level of disease burden, the M&RP has supported vaccination campaigns in every world region. This includes high burden countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and Indonesia as well as countries in the countries in Europe such as Kyrgyzstan and countries in the Americas Region like Haiti. Similarly, the American Red Cross has provided direct campaign support through Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies in countries including Haiti, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines and Timor-Leste.  

5. When did GAVI become part of the partnership?  

While Gavi has been involved with the Partnership since 2010, they did not gain formal membership as a core partner until 2023. At that time, Gavi as well as the Gates Foundation were added as official partners triggering a rebranding from the Measles & Rubella Initiative to the Measles & Rubella Partnership. Along with the inclusion of Gavi and Gates this also signaled a key change to our operational strategy and framework as we became integrated into the World Health Organization (WHO) Immunization Agenda 2030 structure.

6. Where is the Partnership going to vaccinate this year?  

While the timing of campaigns depend on numerous factors and launch dates often slip, for 2025 the following countries are on the programmatic calendar for measles or measles/rubella vaccination campaigns:

·      Afghanistan

·      Bangladesh

·      CAR

·      Eswatini

·      Chad

·      Comoros

·      Congo

·      Congo DRC

·      Ethiopia

·      Gambia

·      Kenya

·      Lesotho

·      Niger

·      Nigeria

·      Pakistan

·      Somalia

·      Sudan South

·      Sudan South

·      Syria NW

·      Togo

·      Zimbabwe

·      Botswana

7. How, if at all, will the pause in USAID financial and human resources support from the U.S. government to other countries affect the ability of the Partnership to continue momentum in the Partnership’s goal? What challenges might it present?  

The pause in funding to USAID has the potential to have significant impacts on global immunization programs through the timing of the next Gavi replenishment cycle. Gavi is the largest funder for global immunization programs as a conduit for donor countries to provide financial resources to the efforts to control and eliminate vaccine preventable diseases in low-income countries. The U.S. has typically been one of the biggest donors to Gavi during their replenishments and were expected to provide roughly $300 million to support Gavi activities between 2026 to 2030.

8. Does the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still provide one of its staff members to work on the Partnership at the American Red Cross?For how many years is the staff member assigned? (it used to be 5 years) 

The tradition of having a U.S. CDC secondee support the American Red Cross’ Measles & Rubella Partnership unfortunately came to an end. The last CDC staff member to support our programs was Dr. Mary Agocs, who happily retired from the CDC following the conclusion of her tour and became a full time Red Cross employee. Currently she leads our program and is based in Geneva where she also helps to support coordination with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

9. Does Red Cross still lead administratively on the Partnership?  

The detailed summary of each M&RP Core Partner can be found here. One of many improvements of the rebranding from Measles & Rubella Initiative to Measles & Rubella Partnership is the formation of the Program Support Unit (PSU) that serves as the secretariat of the Partnership, taking on the administrative role. This was a welcome change supported by the American Red Cross and has created efficiencies within the Partnership. That said, the Red Cross still hosts numerous key activities including the bi-weekly Africa Region Measles and Rubella Call, planning and coordination of advocacy events, and finally the hosting of the M&RP Partners Meeting at Red Cross Square every two years. It should also be noted that the Red Cross served as the co-chair of the M&RP Management Team until May of 2024, at which point our term ended and UNICEF took over as co-chair.

10. An American Red Cross staffer ran across the U.S. to draw attention to the Measles Initiative in the early 2000's. Are there any examples of how you are raising awareness of the Partnership's work among U.S. audiences/advocates now?  

While we have not done activities as notable as the Measles Run in recent years, we still work closely with the Red Cross domestic Chapter Network to conduct advocacy and fundraising activities. We continue to work closely with Red Cross clubs and youth volunteers to raise awareness and funds through the Vaccinate a Village platform. In FY2024, 19 clubs participated in Vaccinate a Village and in FY2025 we have already surpassed that number with 31 clubs participating so far. In addition to our work with youth volunteers, we also have a strong partnership with the American Red Cross National Nursing Committee to conduct educational and advocacy outreach to targeted Congressional offices. This program is currently in its nineth year and has helped to train and mobilize hundreds of Red Cross nurses to meet with representatives from their states to educate them on the ongoing global burden of measles and rubella, and encourage them to support continued U.S. Government funding for the CDC’s measles and rubella elimination programs.  

For more information, view the Partnership video here. 

And see the Measles & Rubella Partnership web pages at RedCross.org here and at the Partnership website here.