Health officials reported Tuesday that measles deaths have been reduced by 74 percent worldwide from 2000-2007 due to a concerted effort to vaccinate children in developing countries.

Measles deaths worldwide have dropped from 750,000 in 2000, the year before the vaccination effort began, to 197,000 in 2007. In Africa, the hardest hit continent, measles deaths dropped 89 percent, from 395,000 in 2000 to 45,000 in 2007.

The global effort, which has vaccinated more than 600 million children in over 60 countries, was launched by the American Red Cross, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Nations Foundation, UNICEF, and the WHO. Officials estimated that 3.6 million lives were saved by the vaccination efforts, which cost more than $600 million.

-Rena Pacheco-Theard