Unvaccinated and vulnerable: Children driving a rise in deadly outbreaks
Approximately 60 million “doseless children” have not received any vaccine and are no longer benefiting from routine immunization programs. Protecting them will require a costly vaccination campaign.
Large outbreaks of diseases that kill mostly children are spreading across the world, a dark legacy of disruption to health systems during the Covid-19 crisis. 19 pandemic that left more than 60 million children without a single dose of standard childhood vaccines.
As of the middle of this year, 47 countries were reporting serious measles outbreaks , compared to 16 countries in June 2020. Nigeria is currently facing the largest diphtheria outbreak in its history, with more than 17,000 suspected cases and nearly 600 deaths to date. Twelve countries, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, are reporting the circulation of the polio virus.
Many children who have not received their vaccine are now no longer benefiting from routine immunization programs. “Doseless children” account for nearly half of all child deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases, according to Gavi, the organization that helps fund immunization in low- and middle-income countries.
85 million more children are underimmunized due to the pandemic, that is, they have received only part of the standard treatment of multiple injections required to be fully protected against a particular disease.
The cost of failing to reach these children is quickly becoming clear. Measles deaths increased 43% (to 136,200) in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to a new report from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Figures for 2023 indicate the total could be twice as high again.
“The decline in vaccination coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic has led us directly to this situation of increasing childhood illnesses and deaths,” said Ephrem Lemango, associate director of immunization at UNICEF, which supports the provision of vaccines to almost half of the world's children each year. “With each new epidemic, the toll on vulnerable communities increases. We must act quickly now and make the investments needed to catch up with the children who went missing during the pandemic. »
One of the biggest challenges is that children who missed their first injection between 2020 and 2022 are now older than the age range age typically observed in primary health care centers and in normal immunization programs. Reaching them and protecting them from diseases that can easily prove fatal in countries with the weakest health systems will require additional effort and new investments.
“If you were born in one for a certain period of time, you were forgotten, period, and you're not going to get caught just by restoring normal services,” said Lily Caprani, UNICEF global advocacy manager .
UNICEF in...
Approximately 60 million “doseless children” have not received any vaccine and are no longer benefiting from routine immunization programs. Protecting them will require a costly vaccination campaign.
Large outbreaks of diseases that kill mostly children are spreading across the world, a dark legacy of disruption to health systems during the Covid-19 crisis. 19 pandemic that left more than 60 million children without a single dose of standard childhood vaccines.
As of the middle of this year, 47 countries were reporting serious measles outbreaks , compared to 16 countries in June 2020. Nigeria is currently facing the largest diphtheria outbreak in its history, with more than 17,000 suspected cases and nearly 600 deaths to date. Twelve countries, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, are reporting the circulation of the polio virus.
Many children who have not received their vaccine are now no longer benefiting from routine immunization programs. “Doseless children” account for nearly half of all child deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases, according to Gavi, the organization that helps fund immunization in low- and middle-income countries.
85 million more children are underimmunized due to the pandemic, that is, they have received only part of the standard treatment of multiple injections required to be fully protected against a particular disease.
The cost of failing to reach these children is quickly becoming clear. Measles deaths increased 43% (to 136,200) in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to a new report from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Figures for 2023 indicate the total could be twice as high again.
“The decline in vaccination coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic has led us directly to this situation of increasing childhood illnesses and deaths,” said Ephrem Lemango, associate director of immunization at UNICEF, which supports the provision of vaccines to almost half of the world's children each year. “With each new epidemic, the toll on vulnerable communities increases. We must act quickly now and make the investments needed to catch up with the children who went missing during the pandemic. »
One of the biggest challenges is that children who missed their first injection between 2020 and 2022 are now older than the age range age typically observed in primary health care centers and in normal immunization programs. Reaching them and protecting them from diseases that can easily prove fatal in countries with the weakest health systems will require additional effort and new investments.
“If you were born in one for a certain period of time, you were forgotten, period, and you're not going to get caught just by restoring normal services,” said Lily Caprani, UNICEF global advocacy manager .
UNICEF in...
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