Childhood Vaccination Gap in Peru: Ministry of Health Warns Against the Reappearance of Polio and Measles

The Ministry of Health (Sometimes) reported that there is a childhood vaccination gap that has been maintained since before the pandemic, which warns against the possibility that diseases such as polio and measles will appear again.

By 2020, 71% of children under 5 years of age received the regular vaccination schedule vaccines that protect against more than 27 diseases. In 2021 and 2022, vaccination coverage improved by 78% and 82%, respectively.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Latin American and Caribbean region has gone from having one of the highest childhood vaccination rates in the world to one of the lowest.

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The main challenges that the health authorities have are the geographical differences and the difficult access to medical services, which implies that strategies must be implemented that can reach all infants who need to complete their vaccination schemes.

During Vaccination Week in the Americas 2023, Peru reported that more than 300,000 people completed the regular immunization schedule, which includes 18 vaccines and protects against 28 vaccine-preventable diseases.

Minsa has coordinated with local authorities and communities the arrival of health personnel, to impact the largest number of people. Currently, more than 3,400 vaccination brigades continue to travel to the highest and most remote areas of the country.

Likewise, vaccination strategies are advanced in educational centers, which have carried vaccines such as the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) to prevent cervical cancer. As a result, all minors registered in schools were vaccinated with the first dose and 72.62% with the second, however there is still a large gap in infants who have not been immunized.

In Peru, more than 18,000 children under 36 months of age do not have any dose of any type of vaccine, according to the 2021 Demographic and Family Health Survey (Endes).

Among the regions with the highest percentage of infants under 3 years of age with zero doses are Loreto, Ucayali, Metropolitan Lima, Tumbes and Huancavelica.

María Elena Martínez Barrera, executive director of Immunizations at Minsa, explained that childhood vaccination is essential because it helps provide immunity before girls and boys are exposed to deadly diseases.

The official explained that newborns must be vaccinated to strengthen their immune system against tuberculosis and hepatitis B, among other diseases that can seriously affect the health of the child.

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