3 out of 4 children live in countries where low vaccination coverage is already leading to measles outbreaks

3 out of 4 children live in countries where low vaccination coverage is already leading to measles outbreaks

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF released global immunization data on Monday: 14.5 million children worldwide have not received a single dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP) vaccine, used as a global marker of disease. cover – during 2023, which means an increase in the number of children who receive the so-called “zero dose”. compared to 2022when the figure was 13.9 million. Another alarming fact: Almost three out of four children live in areas with the highest risk of infection. shoots measles.

“This puts the lives of the most vulnerable children at risk. The figures for 2023 and 2022 are still higher than those achieved in 2019 with 12.8 million children. So we are not even back to pre-pandemic levels,” said the Director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals at WHO. Katherine O’Brienduring the launch of the National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC), which provides the world’s largest data set on Immunization coverage trends for 14 antigens in 195 member states of both organizations.

Global Coverage Scoreboard

Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (DPT) It is used as a global indicator of immunization coverage. So UNICEF and WHO consider that if they have not received any dose of DTP, the most basic one, they have not received any other types of vaccines. In this sense, the report states that Nigeria (2.1 million), India (1.6 million) and Ethiopia (917.00) These are the countries with the highest number of children with “zero dose”.

In 2023, 84% of children worldwide – 108 million – will have received three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping coughthe same value as in 2022, which is far from the 90% target set by the 2030 immunization program.

“Global immunization coverage has not yet fully recovered from the historic decline we saw during the pandemic. In fact, coverage improvements have stalled in 2023 compared to 2022. Too many countries are not seeing improvements, and even fewer have actually strengthened their program beyond what they This has already been achieved in 2019.“, he emphasized. Catherine O’Brien.

Children without doses

In addition, 6.5 million children did not receive their second or third dose of DPT in 2023. “So, in total, both the children who missed a dose and these under-vaccinated children In 2023, there will be 21 million of them. This figure is 2.7 million more than before the pandemic, when there were 18.5 million of them,” the WHO chief added.

55% of children live in conflict-affected countries or in vulnerable environments

55% of these children live in affected countries due to conflict or those who have a vulnerable environment“Children living in such conditions are also deprived of safety, nutrition and health care and are likely to die as a result of a vaccine-preventable disease,” lamented the Director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and biological products.

Measles Coverage

For his part, UNICEF Deputy Director for Health and Global Head of Immunization Ephraim T. Lemangoreported that in 2023 more than 300,000 cases of measles worldwidewhich means almost tripling the figure compared to last year.

Only 83% of children have received the first dose of measles vaccine, although second-dose coverage has improved since 2022.

Only 83% of children have received the first dose of measles vaccine, although coverage with the second dose has improved slightly since 2022, reaching about 74%. “For full protection, we need two doses of measles vaccine, reaching 95%,” he explained. Specifically, 22.2 million children have not received the first dose of measles vaccine. measlesand 12.3 million did not receive the second, which in total amounted to 34.6 million without full management.

“This figure is still too low to prevent outbreaks and meet elimination targets. Alarmingly, nearly three out of four children live in areas with the highest risk of measles outbreaks. the last five years, Some 103 countries with insufficient vaccination coverage have suffered measles outbreaks, in stark contrast to the other 91 countries,” Lemango warned.

Good news

Despite global growth, in Africa number of children with “zero dose” decreased in 2023 compared to 2022, leaving 6.7 million children with a “zero dose”. in the African region compared with 7.3 million a year earlier. “In addition, the Africa region saw a 1% increase in the third dose of DPT,” O’Brien added.

A nurse examines a little girl in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Also last year, the number of vaccines against the human papillomavirus (HPV) increased. “27% of girls received the first dose of the HPV vaccine. This is 7% more than in the previous year. And this increase was “largely” due to the really active introduction of the HPV vaccine. HPV in large countries,” they said. emphasized those responsible for the report. Among these countries are Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeriawhich were supported by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Cervical cancer

“Closing the immunization gap requires a global effort by governments, partners and local leaders to invest among primary health care workers and community workers to ensure that all boys and girls are vaccinated and that health care in general is strengthened,” he said. Katherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF.

For example, the proportion of adolescent girls globally who received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine, which provides protection against cervical cancer, increased from 20% in 2022 to 27% in 2023 in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Nigeria. However, coverage remains well below the 90% target needed to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem because it affects only 56% of adolescent girls in high-income countries and 23% in low- and middle-income countries.