‘Indonesia’s measles outbreaks need more than immunisation campaigns’

JAKARTA, Indonesia (MNTV) – Indonesia’s measles vaccination program is facing a major challenge, with vaccine coverage falling short of the 95% target required for herd immunity, reports CNA. 

As a result, the country is experiencing a surge in measles outbreaks, with over 2,000 suspected cases reported in Sumenep, East Java, alone.

Over the past few weeks, Indonesia has recorded dozens of measles outbreaks.

One of the worst-hit areas is Sumenep in Madura Island, East Java, which has recorded more than 2,000 suspected infections and deaths of 17 children. The other two hotspots besides Sumenep are Medan (351 suspected cases) and Deli Serdang (154), both in North Sumatra province. 

Authorities say reluctance to participate in vaccination programmes is the leading cause. In response, health officials launched a mass immunisation campaign, known as Outbreak Response Immunization (ORI), which runs from Aug 25 to Sep 6 in Sumenep.

Ellya Fardasah, Head of the Sumenep Health, Population Control and Family Planning Office (Dinkes P2KB), told CNA that vaccines will be administered to 78,569 children aged nine months to seven years.

“Our target is 95% of that figure, which amounts to 70,271 children. The daily goal is 4.8% or 3,346 children within that age range,” Ellya said. 

But experts believe that sustainable progress in vaccination coverage requires more than campaigns — it demands community-based education, particularly from religious leaders, to counter disinformation and to convince families that vaccines are vital to children’s safety.

Every time a free school vaccination drive is held, Benzema (not his real name) keepd his children at home. Sometimes the excuse is illness, but the underlying reason is always the same: distrust.

The 40-year-old small business owner from Bekasi, West Java, believes vaccines actually weaken the body’s immunity. “None of my eight kids has been vaccinated since they were babies,” he told CNA, adding that he has done extensive read-ups about vaccines.

Health workers and experts warn that such attitudes have contributed to a steady decline in vaccine coverage in Indonesia — opening the door to the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases. 

As of Aug 24, Indonesia’s Ministry of Health confirmed 46 laboratory-verified measles outbreaks in 42 regencies and cities across 14 provinces, its director of immunisation Prima Yosephine Berliana Tumiur Hutapea said at a press conference.

Nationwide, the cumulative number of suspected measles cases recorded this year has reached 23,128 as of August 2025. Of that figure, 20,710 samples have been examined in laboratories, with results confirming 3,444 positive cases, said the director. This marks a sharp increase from previous years, which saw 10,628 cases in 2023 and 3,520 in 2024. 

This places Indonesia’s measles positive rate — the proportion of laboratory-confirmed cases among those tested — at 16.6% in 2025. Indonesia had recorded 25,639 suspected cases in 2024, with 22,493 specimens tested and 3,520 confirmed positive — a slightly lower positive rate of 15.6%. 

Indonesia’s Ministry of Health attributes the continued spread to uneven vaccine distribution as well as low immunisation coverage.

‘Delayed impact of COVID-19’

Experts say the current situation is partly a delayed impact of COVID-19. During the pandemic, mobility restrictions prevented many children from receiving their first measles shot at nine months of age.

“All routine vaccination programmes should have continued. Now, we’re seeing a vaccine backlog,” said Windhu Purnomo, a public health lecturer at Airlangga University. “A child should be vaccinated at nine months, but many missed it. Two or three years later, they got infected.”

Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist at Griffith University in Australia, agreed. “Health services disrupted during the pandemic have not fully recovered,” he said, pointing to missed appointments and broken vaccine schedules.