Save the Children’s Emergency Health Unit is treating children for some of the biggest child killers in the world like malaria, respiratory infection and acute watery diarrhea. We are also making sure children have their vaccines for diseases like polio and measles. Photo credit: Guilhem Alandry/Save the Children, March 2017.

Children's Emergency Fund
Nobody knows when the next crisis will strike, but your support helps Save the Children provide assistance in the critical first hours and days of an emergency when children need us most. When generous people like you make your 100% tax-deductible gift, children's lives are saved and their futures are brighter.

Samoa Measles Outbreak: Facts & Figures

A measles outbreak on the Pacific Island of Samoa is causing widespread concern for the wellbeing of children. The United Nations Resident Coordinator for the region, Simona Marinescu, has already called the outbreak “one of the greatest challenges that this country experienced in its recently history."

Save the Children’s Emergency Health Unit has deployed to the region to support the government's response and help save the lives of children in need.

Your support today can help our health teams deliver lifesaving aid to children and families around the world every day and in times of crisis. Please donate.

Learn more about our work for children and families, including facts about the widespread measles outbreak in Samoa and how you can help vulnerable children.

What you need to know about the measles outbreak in Samoa

What is the scale of the measles outbreak in Samoa?
How many children have been infected by the Samoa measles outbreak?
How is Save the Children responding to the Samoa measles outbreak?
How can I help children and families impacted emergencies?

What is scale of the measles outbreak in Samoa?

“The situation in Samoa is very serious—many children have been hospitalized, and more are being admitted every day,” said Dr. Louisa Baxter, who is leading Save the Children’s medical team deployed to the response. “In addition, routine services such as care to pregnant women have been interrupted, leaving them without the support they need at a crucial time.”

How many children have been infected by the Samoa measles outbreak?

The outbreak has infected 4,357 people - mostly children - since the beginning of October. At least 63 people have died from measles-related complications, of whom 55 are children under five years old. [1]

How is Save the Children responding to the Samoa measles outbreak?

As a global leader in saving newborns, we continue to be at the forefront of worldwide efforts to end preventable child deaths with a focus on health and nutrition, including health in emergencies.

Save the Children’s Emergency Health and Nutrition programs focus on basic lifesaving maternal, newborn and child healthcare as well as communicable disease prevention and control.

Currently, a team of midwives and a doctor from Save the Children’s Emergency Health Unit are en route to Samoa, arriving on Sunday to support the government's response to the widespread measles outbreak.

How can I help children and families impacted emergencies?

Nobody knows when the next crisis will strike, but your support helps Save the Children provide assistance in the critical first hours and days of an emergency when children need us most. When generous people like you make your 100% tax-deductible gift, children's lives are saved and their futures are brighter.

Donate to the Children's Emergency Fund today.

[1] Samoa’s Ministry of Health, December 2019