Although a safe, highly effective, and inexpensive vaccine is available, according to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), measles affects more than 30 million children worldwide and causes nearly 777,000 deaths each year, more than half of which occur in Africa. Of all vaccine-preventable diseases, measles still kills the most children today (measles accounts for 50 to 60% of deaths caused by vaccine-preventable diseases). In 2002, the United Nations General Assembly dedicated to children adopted a resolution aimed at reducing, by 2005, the number of deaths due to measles by 50% compared to 1999. In light of the encouraging results achieved through the polio eradication initiative, member countries of the WHO European Region, including France, committed in 1998 to a policy of eliminating the measles virus, preventing congenital rubella, and controlling mumps. This policy is set to be achieved by 2010, following the example of the Americas. The vaccination coverage level required to interrupt measles virus transmission has been estimated at at least 95% with two doses. Some countries have achieved this goal, thereby demonstrating the feasibility of interrupting virus transmission. For example, Finland has not recorded any indigenous measles cases since 1996, and the measles vaccination coverage rate, which stood at 81% in 1986, rose to over 96% as early as 1991 with two doses. The total number of reported cases in the WHO European Region fell from 304,184 cases in 1991 to approximately 67,759 in 2001, including more than 16,000 in Western Europe. That same year, 22 cases of measles were reported in France through the sentinel physician network developed at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm U444), corresponding to an extrapolated incidence of 8,460 cases that are not included by the WHO in the total. Since the introduction of the measles vaccine into the French vaccination schedule in 1983, the incidence of measles has decreased significantly. However, recent outbreaks, particularly in the Provence-Alpes-Côtes d'Azur region, have shown active circulation of the virus in certain French departments with low vaccination coverage. The proportion of individuals susceptible to measles in the population represents an obstacle to achieving measles elimination goals in France. Furthermore, surveillance methods are no longer adapted to the current epidemiological situation. In 2004, the French High Council for Public Health (CSHPF) established a working group tasked with developing a national plan for the elimination of measles and congenital rubella. This report provides an overview of measles surveillance methods and the current epidemiological situation in France, as well as in other European countries, and outlines the surveillance components and tools that must be strengthened or implemented with a view to eliminating measles virus transmission in France. (R.A.)