Six children reportedly died of measles in Antsirabe II. It is both sad and alarming. In 2026, measles is a contagious disease that should no longer kill young children. Yet it remains a harsh reality every year. In 2018-2019, eighty thousand measles cases were detected across twenty-three regions, resulting in nine hundred deaths. That is almost as many as Covid, which affected sixty thousand people with one thousand four hundred ten deaths from 2020 to 2022. A massive vaccination campaign targeting children began in several regions in 2022. The vaccination rate reached 95% of the 4.4 million children aged 9 to 59 months. However, in 2020, an initial campaign failed miserably with a very low vaccination rate of 30%, rising to 42% in 2021. Until proven otherwise, vaccination is the only antidote to measles. The same applies to other contagious childhood diseases such as rubella, poliomyelitis, chickenpox, impetigo, and roseola. These diseases were long considered eradicated through mandatory, free, and systematic vaccination campaigns in health centers and schools. But over the years, resources dwindled, and international organizations had to provide aid for child vaccination. There were years when many children went unvaccinated. Those who died in Antsirabe were probably not vaccinated. Beyond vaccination failures, other factors have compounded the situation. Poverty and ignorance make it difficult to convince parents to vaccinate their children. Fatal prejudices and rumors have surrounded vaccination campaigns against certain diseases like poliomyelitis. Beliefs attributed vaccine side effects that could endanger a child's mental and physical integrity. Significant awareness efforts were needed to reverse this trend and persuade parents. But the battle is far from won. As poverty increases, education declines and ignorance spreads. As years pass, the mission becomes more complicated. How can we convince a population where 80% live in extreme poverty according to the World Bank, where 2 out of 3 children fail to complete primary school, and the repetition rate reaches 23.5%, double the African average? We realize the long road ahead. The first step is a vaccination campaign against ignorance. This requires education above all. But when two million children are born outside health centers and lack even civil registration, we understand the enormity of the task. A long march like that of the people of Israel toward the Promised Land, 400 km covered in 40 years. We must therefore arm ourselves with faith and courage. Sylvain Ranjalahy