On Monday, April 24, the United Nations launched a campaign to restart vaccination campaigns for children around the world, which saw a serious slowdown during the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to a resurgence of infectious diseases such as measles and polio.
The World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the international organization Gavi (which works to ensure better access to vaccines for children in poor countries) and the Gates Foundation are part of this campaign for “catch up”.
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UNICEF warns that 67 million children have missed out on vaccinations due to Covid-related disorders
Millions of children and adolescents, especially in low-income countries, have lost out on life-saving vaccines, while epidemics of these deadly diseases have increased.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed.
“Catching up is a top priority. No child should die from a vaccine-preventable disease.”he added.
The campaign focused on 20 countries
Vaccination rates fell in more than a hundred countries at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, more than 25 million children will miss out on at least one vaccination, including 18 million who missed routine immunizations altogether, according to the World Health Organization.
Outbreaks of preventable diseases such as measles, diphtheria, polio and yellow fever are becoming more frequent and severe.confirmed by the World Health Organization.
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campaign “catch up” It will focus on the twenty countries where three-quarters of the children in the world who missed out on vaccines live in 2021.
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These 20 countries are Afghanistan, Angola, Brazil, Cameroon, Chad, North Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, Madagascar, Mexico, Mozambique, Burma, Tanzania, and Vietnam.
According to the WHO’s director of vaccines, Kate O’Brien, the “sudden retreat” Vaccines worked during the Covid-19 pandemic “nearly a decade of stagnant progress”.
Increased infant mortality
It is not only a matter of rectifying the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also of confrontation “Methodological Challenges in Immunization”she told the press. A 5% drop in vaccinations during the pandemic has caused this “at least a 5% increase in the infant mortality rate”she added.
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“As distrust of institutions increases, so too does distrust of the vaccine.”
Kate O’Brien has warned of an outbreak of measles, a highly contagious and potentially fatal disease. When the vaccination rate drops, it leads to ‘Explosive epidemics’she indicated.
For UNICEF Director-General Catherine Russell, the issue goes beyond preventing infectious diseases. “Routine immunizations typically represent children’s first entry into their healthcare system, and children who miss their first vaccinations are at greater risk of long-term exclusion from healthcare.”, I explained. If we are late in vaccinating these children, “The risk of deadly epidemics is increasing”I warned.
