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The region of the Americas is approaching an imminent crisis around systematic vaccination, so there is a risk of re-outbreaks of previously controlled diseases such as measles and tetanus, warned the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne.
In a press conference he explained that health systems in the world have been weakened due to the pandemic of COVID-19, which has caused a decrease in vaccination rates in the region, which were previously among the highest in the world.
“The fall in vaccination coverage rates together with a relaxation of public health measures will predictably lead to an increase in many preventable cattle diseases such as measles, influenza, whooping cough, tetanus, etc.”, he said.
The region of the Americas has reported significant delays in routine vaccination, resulting in a 10 percent drop in diseases like diphtheria and tetanus. And although, he pointed out, this has happened in the last 10 years, “in the first days of COVID-19 we have also seen important falls.”
“Unless we improve our systematic vaccination system we have a risk of new outbreaks of preventable cattle diseases,” he warned.
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