Key Evidence: A 2019 analysis of survey data from school aged children in Ethiopia, India and Vietnam shows that children vaccinated against measles achieved 0.2 – 0.3 years of additional schooling compared to children who did not receive the measles vaccine.
Key Evidence: For every 6 children vaccinated against measles in a poor, largely rural community in South Africa, one additional grade of schooling was achieved.
Key Evidence: A study of the staggered roll-out of measles vaccination in Matlab, Bangladesh, which started in the early 1980s, found that boys vaccinated before 12 months of age were 7.4% more likely to be enrolled in school than boys who were never vaccinated or vaccinated later in childhood, while measles vaccination had no effect on girls’ enrolment in school.
From the VoICE editors: This may suggest that poor health, resulting from complications of measles that can lead to deficits in physical and cognitive development, affected schooling decisions for boys in Bangladesh, but not for girls.