Global Childhood Vaccination Efforts Stall, Leaving Millions Vulnerable, UN Warns
Global Childhood Vaccination Efforts Stall, Leaving Millions Vulnerable, UN Warns
In a sobering new report, the United Nations has issued a stark warning: global childhood vaccination levels have stagnated, leaving millions more children unprotected against preventable diseases than before the COVID-19 pandemic. The alarming data, released yesterday by UN health and children’s agencies, highlights dangerous coverage gaps that are fueling outbreaks of highly infectious diseases like measles.
The report, which primarily covers 2023 data, indicates that 84 percent of children worldwide received three doses of the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) vaccine. This crucial marker for global immunization coverage remains unchanged from the previous year, signaling a halt to the modest recovery observed in 2022 after the significant decline during the pandemic. For context, the rate stood at 86 percent in 2019, before the global health crisis took hold.
UNICEF Chief Catherine Russell underscored the gravity of the situation, stating, “The latest trends demonstrate that many countries continue to miss far too many children.” Alarmingly, an additional 2.7 million children remained un- or under-vaccinated last year compared to pre-pandemic figures. Kate O’Brien, the World Health Organization’s vaccine chief, echoed this concern, noting, “Global immunisation coverage has yet to fully recover from the historic backsliding that we saw during the course of the pandemic.”
Even more concerning is the rise in “zero-dose” children—those who have not received even a single vaccine jab. This number climbed to 14.5 million in 2023, up from 13.9 million in 2022 and 12.8 million in 2019. O’Brien emphasized the dire consequences: “This puts the lives of the most vulnerable children at risk.” A disproportionate number of these unvaccinated children—over half—reside in 31 countries grappling with fragility and conflict, where access to essential health services, security, and nutrition is severely compromised.
The report also sounded an urgent alarm regarding measles vaccination. Despite being one of the world’s most infectious diseases, only 83 percent of children received their first dose of the measles vaccine through routine health services in 2023—the same level as 2022 but down from 86 percent pre-pandemic. The second necessary dose reached only 74 percent, far below the 95 percent coverage required to prevent outbreaks. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus ominously warned, “Measles outbreaks are the canary in the coalmine, exposing and exploiting gaps in immunisation and hitting the most vulnerable first.”
Indeed, 2023 saw over 300,000 confirmed measles cases, nearly tripling the number from the previous year. More than 100 countries have experienced outbreaks in the past five years, with low vaccination coverage being a significant contributing factor. Conversely, 91 countries with robust measles vaccine coverage reported no outbreaks. Ephrem Lemango, UNICEF’s immunization chief, highlighted that nearly three in four infants live in areas at the greatest risk of measles outbreaks, with 10 crisis-affected nations, including Sudan, Yemen, and Afghanistan, accounting for more than half of unvaccinated children against measles.
On a slightly brighter note, the report pointed to significant increases in vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer. However, substantial disparities persist, with only 56 percent of adolescent girls in high-income countries and a mere 23 percent in lower-income countries receiving the vaccine, falling far short of the 90 percent target.
The UN’s latest data serves as a critical call to action, urging global leaders and health organizations to redouble efforts to restore and accelerate immunization programs, especially in the most vulnerable regions, to protect the lives of millions of children at risk.
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