The World Health Organisation said that the number of deaths caused by measles dropped 74% in the past seven years worldwide, thanks to dramatic progress in Africa and nations including Afghanistan and Pakistan, The number of deaths dropped by half a million between 2000 and 2007, from an estimated 750,000 to 197,000.

There has been 89% drop in measles deaths in Africa which is two-thirds of the global reduction. There was 90% decrease in deaths caused by measles in the eastern Mediterranean region, which includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Sudan from 96,000 to 10,000.

WHO said that progress was more limited in the South-East Asia region where mortality dropped by a modest 42% due to the late launch of a large-scale vaccination campaign in India, where two-thirds of global measles deaths occur.