The World Health Organization or WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF, Thursday (15/7), reported that 23 million children last year were not immunized against deadly diseases such as measles, polio and diphtheria. Both agencies said the disruption to immunization services caused by COVID-19 had slowed progress on vaccination of children by a decade.
WHO and UNICEF report that children in Southeast Asia and the eastern Mediterranean region are the most widely affected. India topped the list of 10 countries where children did not receive the first dose of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis combination vaccine. The other nine countries are in the Americas and Africa.
Director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biology at WHO Kate O’Brien said the new wave of COVID-19 and the launch of a COVID-19 vaccine should not interfere with routine immunizations. He noted that vaccines are the most powerful tool available to safeguard public health.
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“The world has rightly prioritized the emergency response to COVID-19. But if we fail to catch up, catch up with those who missed out on these immunizations, restore and scale up essential immunization programmes, there is a serious risk that disease outbreaks will continue to grow. We really can’t go from one crisis to another.”
The lead adviser and head of immunization affairs at UNICEF, Ephrem Lemango, said immunization in many countries in the first half of 2020 fell significantly. This is due to the closure of health facilities, area closure policies and cessation of activities or activities lockdown, and transportation problems.
“Regarding recovery interventions, such as community mobilization activities and provision of personal protective equipment to health workers as well as conducting participatory activities; actually possible in some regions such as in the Middle East and North Africa, thus increasing coverage.”
He added that the African region also experienced a significant increase.
WHO, UNICEF and partners are helping countries and territories recover from the pandemic and strengthening immunization systems. The agencies are targeting 90% of children to receive essential vaccines by 2030. If the UN goals are actually achieved, they say the deaths of some 51 million children in the future could be avoided. [em/lt]
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