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Areas with low uptake of the MMR vaccine, such as London and the West Midlands, are the focus of health campaigns
A council in north-west London is running an information campaign in a variety of languages to encourage people to get the measles vaccine.
London has the lowest proportion of children who have received both doses at 74%, compared with the UK average of 85%, according to Health and Safety Executive.
Brent Council wants to target communities that are not being reached by mainstream health messages.
One of the videos that is part of the campaign was created by a community group set up by British Somali mothers.
Rhoda Ibrahim made a video targeting British Somali mothers living in Brent.
Rhoda Ibrahim from the Somalia Advice and Information Forum told BBC Politics London: “It’s always the older men, women and mothers who don’t speak English.
“About 80% of mothers do not speak English. Mothers are responsible for everything, including vaccinations and school for their children.”
Millions of parents in the UK have been contacted by the NHS urging them to book their children’s measles vaccinations as cases rise across England.
According to NHS England, more than 3.4 million children under the age of 16 are left unprotected.
Dr Tesheen Khan, NHS London’s vaccination advisor, said: “The target vaccination rate for children under 16 to prevent measles outbreaks is 95%.”
“We are concerned about this disease coming to our capital, and if it does, it will affect hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children.”
Hackney mother Tui Mai told BBC London she was concerned about low vaccination rates.
Brent City Council cabinet member for public health Neil Nerva said measles vaccination centers will replace centers that previously provided coronavirus jabs.
“This is not just about what we do at the Civic Center, but also all the outreach work we do outside of Brent Civic Center,” he said.
“This is a really serious problem. We have learned from COVID-19 what happens when things go wrong. We still have a chance to fix it.”
