The Region of the Americas was the first in the world to reach the elimination target for rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in 2015, and measles in 2016. However, the verification process has had a history full of challenges and lessons learned. This special issue brings together the experiences of countries in the Americas throughout the elimination and post-elimination period of measles, rubella, and congenital rubella syndrome between 2013 and 2024.
In the first 15 years of the new millennium, national immunization programs in the countries of the Region achieved high vaccination coverage against these diseases. Additionally, they implemented vaccination campaigns on average every four years for children aged 1 to 5 years and large vaccination campaigns for adolescents and young adults to eliminate rubella virus and consolidate measles elimination. But between 2018 and 2020, 19 countries had to test their national capacities to contain measles outbreaks of varying magnitude caused by the importation of viruses from other regions of the world, which caused the re-establishment of endemic transmission in two countries. Between 2020 and 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted vaccination coverage and the sensitivity of epidemiological surveillance. By November 2024, all countries have interrupted measles endemic virus circulation and maintained elimination of rubella since 2015, achieving a slow but progressive recovery of vaccination coverage and surveillance indicators in the last two years.
The Pan American Journal of Public Health thanks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States for its programmatic and financial support for this special issue.
Additional manuscripts will be published in early 2025 as they become available.