Last year, 81 percent of all children worldwide received three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3). This is 5 percentage points less than in 2019. A report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) sounds the alarm about a decline in vaccinations of children with vital vaccines. The DTP3 vaccine is used as a measure of vaccine coverage within and across countries. 25 million children did not receive one or more doses of the vaccine through routine vaccinations in 2021. This is 2 million more than those who did not receive one or more doses of the vaccine in 2020 and 6 million more than in 2019. Most of the children who did not vaccinated, living in poor countries, especially Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and the Philippines. Vaccine coverage fell on all continents, but the decline was greatest in East Asia and the Pacific region. Corona is part of the reason – We are witnessing the biggest decline in childhood vaccination in a generation, says Unicef director Catherine Russell. Photo: Hussein Malla / AP The organizations believe that last year’s figures highlight the increasing number of children who are at risk of life-threatening but preventable diseases. – This is a red alarm for children’s health. We are witnessing the biggest decline in childhood vaccination in a generation, says Unicef director Catherine Russell. The decline was due to many factors. There has been an increase in the number of children living in conflicts where access to vaccines is often challenging, misinformation has increased and health services have been re-prioritized during the coronary pandemic, the report states. “Corona planning and management should also go hand in hand with vaccination for life-threatening diseases such as measles, pneumonia and diarrhea,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO. – It is not a question of either / or, it is possible to do both, he states. The heartbreaking organizations write that they had hoped last year would be a year of improvement where the vaccination programs would be rebuilt. And that the group of children who did not receive the vaccine in 2020 would receive an offer. Instead, vaccine coverage was reduced to the lowest level since 2008. – It is heartbreaking to see more children lose protection against diseases that can be prevented for the second year in a row, says Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of the Vaccine Alliance. – Our priority must be to help countries maintain, restore and strengthen routine vaccination in addition to implementing ambitious corona vaccination plans. Not only through vaccines, but also tailored structural support to the health systems that will administer them, he believes.
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Many millions of children did not receive vital vaccines last year – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
