Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children, even though a safe and cost-effective vaccine is available. Each day, more than 350 children around the world die from this extremely contagious disease.

In 2015 and 2016, Astellas USA Foundation provided funds to the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign to help immunize approximately 200,000 children against measles in the Latin American countries of Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Further, these funds helped support disease monitoring and surveillance activities throughout Latin America—essential to ensuring that hardest to reach and most vulnerable children are vaccinated and preventing future measles outbreaks.

Committed to improving health and well-being for all, Astellas USA Foundation is thrilled to continue its support of the United Nations Foundation's Shot@Life Campaign to ensure children in Latin America are vaccinated against measles to help prevent the death and disability associated with this disease. The campaign helps train health care workers, ensures vaccine delivery and support, tracks measles cases, and responds to measles outbreaks where they occur. In 2017, Astellas USA Foundation’s funding support will help immunize 100,000 more children, as well as ensure all measles vaccinations are up to date and extend the campaigns reach to all children in the region, including hard to reach rural areas.

To date, funding from Astellas USA Foundation has helped United Nations Foundation to immunize approximately 300,000 children against measles. Working together, the United Nations Foundation and Astellas USA Foundation aim to continue the fight to eliminate measles throughout Latin America, so that that no parent has to watch helplessly as their child suffers from a preventable disease.

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