The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Wednesday (15 Jul) of “an alarming decline in the number of children receiving life-saving vaccines around the world,” the UN spokesperson said at a press briefing in New York.
“This is due to disruptions in the delivery and uptake of immunization services caused by the pandemic,” said spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric.Data collected by the WHO, UNICEF, Gavi, and the Sabin Vaccine Institute showed that country lockdowns measures had substantially hindered the delivery of immunization services in at least 68 countries, putting approximately 80 million children under the age of 1 at increased risk of contracting vaccine-preventable diseases.
“According to new data by WHO and UNICEF, these disruptions threaten to reverse hard-won progress to reach more children and adolescents with a wider range of vaccines, which has already been hampered by a decade of stalling coverage,” said Dujarric.
Immunization, one of the most cost-effective public health interventions to date, is saving an estimated 2 to 3 million lives each year. As a direct result of immunization, the world is closer than ever to eradicating polio, and deaths from measles – a major child killer – have declined by 73 percent worldwide between 2000 and 2018, saving an estimated 23.2 million children’s lives, according to UNICEF.
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