Double vaccine crisis puts millions of children at risk

Wglobal health experts recently met to discuss an emerging global health crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic: the drop in baseline vaccination rates among children around the world.

While many experts are keenly aware of the impact of the pandemic on essential health services, new vaccination data from the World Health Organization and UNICEF say decades of progress against some of the world’s most dangerous diseases are under serious threat.

The figures are austere. As scarce health resources have been diverted to control Covid-19, childhood immunization rates have fallen to the lowest level since 2009. Last year, 23 million children did not receive basic vaccines as part of routine immunization programs, 3.7 million more than in 2019. In addition, 17 million children in the world are considered “zero-dose children,” meaning they have not received any dose of the life-saving vaccine. , routine vaccines – not to mention a comprehensive immunization schedule.

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This puts millions of children at risk for resurgences and deadly diseases like measles and polio, which are more deadly to children than Covid-19. And the decline in the number of children vaccinated widens health equity gaps and increases the likelihood of epidemics, which could push overburdened health systems to the brink of collapse.

Several factors linked to the pandemic have contributed to this health decline. These include local health facilities allocating funds, equipment and healthcare providers to Covid-19 response efforts rather than vaccination programs; the fear of citizens of the transmission of Covid-19; and strict local containments.

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The story is the same in parts of the world. At the recent high-level political forum dedicated to progress in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, officials from Afghanistan, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo spoke of the devastation Covid-19 has wrought on their families. local health systems and the health of the children of their nations. India has been particularly affected: 3.5 million children there are unvaccinated or under-vaccinated, the highest number of any country in the world.

Countries can’t afford to waste decades of relentless progress, leaving children vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases even as the world rushes to distribute billions of Covid-19 vaccines across the seal COVAX effort. The implications would be catastrophic.

Since the onset of the pandemic, measles has killed more people than Covid-19 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Afghanistan. Even before the pandemic, measles was on the rise in children around the world, with the official number of reported cases in 2019, reaching heights not seen in more than two decades. This trajectory, combined with millions more unvaccinated children in 2020, paves the way for a stubborn and highly contagious disease to attack even more children as the world lowers its guard.

Vaccines work. Cost-effective tools exist to stop the spread of preventable diseases before they start, giving infants and toddlers the best possible chance in life. Now, even in times of pandemic, the global health community must unite to ensure that every child in every country has access to life-saving vaccines. Geography shouldn’t be a death sentence.

The first step is to strengthen local health systems. UNICEF, WHO and the Gavi Vaccine Alliance are helping restore local immunization campaigns through awareness raising, emphasizing the safety and importance of vaccines, and identifying families who missed doses, while addressing the complex launch of Covid-19 vaccination efforts. Governments and organizations need to redouble commitments to equity in vaccines by investing in local health resources and implementing strong immunization plans.

As the world undertakes the largest global vaccine deployment in history to fight Covid-19, all possible synergies must be explored to ensure that sufficient health worker capacities, funding, surveillance efforts and a Building confidence in vaccines are in place on all fronts of vaccine delivery. Realize the bold vision set out in the 2030 immunization program, which aims to immunize 90% of children and adolescents in the world, will only be possible with strong multilateral cooperation boosted by political will.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the world witnessed the tragedy of the disease epidemic and the transformative hope offered by vaccines. Imagine if we could offer every parent of every child, whether in rural villages, refugee camps or bustling cities, that same hope. The promise of a healthy future is really at hand. Together, in solidarity, we can make this a reality.

Martha Rebour is the Executive Director of [email protected], a popular advocacy campaign by the United Nations Foundation that advocates for the global immunization of children. Lori Sloate is the Senior Director of Global Health at the United Nations Foundation.