The measles campaign in West and Central Africa: remembering the future.

The rainy season was once the harbinger of measles and child deaths in Western Africa, but measles has now become so uncommon that some younger West African doctors have never seen a single case. A series of successful measles campaigns were carried out in the late eighties through the early part of this century in West Africa--these campaigns have almost eliminated measles in Mali, the thirtieth poorest country in the world. This article provides a retelling of the measles campaigns that were carried out in West Africa during that time period for young doctors and vaccine researchers.