ABC News
Thu 14 Jul 2022
This site version was edited by:
Joaquim Cardoso MSc.
Health Systems Transformation (HST) — management institute
Vaccination Unit
August 14, 2022
Key points
- The number of unprotected children jumped by 6 million since pre-pandemic in 2019
- The figures reveal a “child health crisis”, says UNICEF
- The focus on COVID-19 immunisation in 2021, economic slowdown and the strain on healthcare systems all hindered routine vaccines
Around 25 million children around the world missed out on routine vaccinations that protect against life-threatening diseases last year, as the knock-on effects of the pandemic continued to disrupt health care globally.
That is 2 million more children than in 2020, when COVID-19 caused lockdowns around the world, and 6 million more than pre-pandemic in 2019, according to new figures released by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO).
UNICEF described the drop in vaccination coverage as the largest sustained backslide in childhood vaccination in a generation, taking coverage rates back to levels not seen since the early 2000s.
UNICEF described the drop in vaccination coverage as the largest sustained backslide in childhood vaccination in a generation, taking coverage rates back to levels not seen since the early 2000s.
Many had hoped that 2021 would see some ground recovered after the first year of the pandemic, but the situation actually worsened, raising questions over catch-up efforts.
“I want to get across the urgency,” UNICEF’s senior immunisation specialist, Niklas Danielsson, told Reuters.
“This is a child health crisis.”
The agency said that a focus on COVID-19 immunisation campaigns in 2021, as well as the economic slowdown and strain on healthcare systems, had stymied a quicker recovery for routine vaccinations.
Coverage dropped in every region, showed figures estimated using data on the take-up of the three-dose diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) jab.
That included children who get no doses at all as well as those who missed any of the three doses necessary for protection.
Globally, coverage fell by 5 per cent to 81 per cent last year.
The number of “zero-dose” children, who did not receive any vaccinations, rose by 37 per cent between 2019 and 2021, from 13 to 18 million children mostly in low and middle-income countries, the data showed.
For many diseases, more than 90 per cent of children need to be vaccinated in order to prevent outbreaks.
There have already been reports of rising cases of vaccine-preventable diseases in recent months, including a 400 per cent rise in measles cases in Africa in 2022.
In 2021, 24.7 million children missed their first dose of a measles vaccine, and a further 14.7 million did not get the essential second dose, the data showed. Coverage was 81 per cent the lowest since 2008.
The numbers are worked out using data from national health systems in 177 countries.
Originally published at https://www.abc.net.au on July 15, 2022.
Names mentioned
UNICEF’s senior immunisation specialist, Niklas Danielsson
