Unless we invest more in vaccines, we risk more tragedies like the recent measles death

The tragic death from measles of a child at a Liverpool hospital has brought home the alarming reality that no country is safe from the comeback of a deadly disease we believed we had conquered. Falling vaccination rates in the UK lie behind the spikes in measles cases that we see, but we must also look at the global picture - travel to a country with measles in circulation is one of the major risks for acquiring infection and of outbreaks starting.

Globally, measles outbreaks are on the rise: 61 countries have reported major measles outbreaks in the past 12 months, the highest number this decade. A recent study in The Lancet medical journal revealed why. Measles jabs - which have saved more lives than any other vaccine - are now in decline in nearly 100 countries, a problem fuelled by the Covid-19 pandemic which badly disrupted vaccine programmes during lockdowns.

Therefore, sadly, it is likely that these outbreaks will keep happening unless we invest globally to prevent measles from running out of control in the years to come. And it is not just measles that we should worry about. Meningitis and yellow fever are also growing menaces, while diphtheria threatens to re-emerge after virtually disappearing in many countries.

The World Health Organization reports vaccination campaigns and disease surveillance have been disrupted in around 50 lower-income countries it surveyed, due to reduced donor funding.

This is a disaster brewing across the world - and one that will come to our shores because, when countless millions of people fly across the globe every day, our borders are also open to infectious diseases.

We know the solution: comprehensive vaccinations against preventable illness, the cost-effective, powerful and proven public health intervention that has saved more than 150 million lives over the past 50 years.

This is where the work done by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is so vital. And yet, only weeks ago, its latest fundraising drive fell almost $3billion short, when many countries - including our own - effectively reduced their support.

Whilst we should be proud that the UK helped establish the organisation, we have to recognise that the UK's funding was slashed by around 40% in real terms, a direct consequence of the shortsighted decision to cut the overall aid budget by the same proportion.

According to calculations by the ONE campaign, this £400million cut could result in around 365,000 extra deaths over five years and 23 million fewer child vaccinations. This blow to Gavi comes on top of the US terminating its funding - resulting in 75 million fewer child vaccinations and one million extra deaths, Gavi has warned.

This decision was made despite the latest UK National Risk Register identifying a pandemic as the greatest catastrophic risk Britain faces - a bigger peril than power grid failure, or a large-scale chemical or biological attack

Gavi announced ambitious plans to bolster our defences through targeted preventive vaccination campaigns in more countries on the frontline of the measles resurgence, but they require the world to dig deep to fully fund that work. Unless that happens, the risk is of more tragedies like the one in Liverpool.

• Tim Hallet is Professor of Global Health in the School of Public Health at Imperial College London