In a significant public health achievement, Cabo Verde, Mauritius and Seychelles have eliminated measles and rubella, becoming the first sub-Saharan countries to attain this milestone, the World Health Organisation revealed.
The three countries were verified by the African Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination, established by WHO.
Cabo Verde, Mauritius and Seychelles join 94 and 133 others globally verified as having eliminated measles and rubella respectively.
Measles and rubella are highly contagious airborne viruses as the former can result in severe complications and death, especially among young children, while the latter causes irreversible birth defects if infection occurs during pregnancy.
Both diseases are vaccine preventable.
The achievement by the three countries follows the recommendation of the Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination, which met in Johannesburg, South Africa, in October 2025.
After reviewing comprehensive programmatic and surveillance data, the commission confirmed that the three small island developing states have interrupted endemic transmission of both viruses for more than 36 months, while maintaining high-quality disease surveillance systems capable of rapidly detecting and containing any imported cases.
“This is a major public health achievement. Congratulations to Cabo Verde, Mauritius and Seychelles on this important milestone in our collective efforts to control and end diseases in Africa. It shows what’s possible when countries put prevention first and make vaccines a priority,” said Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “We must build on this success so that every child in Africa can grow up healthy and protected.”
Cabo Verde has fully funded its immunization programme since 1998 and maintained coverage above 90% for 2 decades. Strong political engagement on immunization, especially towards measles and rubella immunization has been critical in ending the local transmission of the two diseases. The country has not had a confirmed measles case since 1999. The last confirmed rubella cases were in 2010.
WN/as/APA