Childhood vaccination by global services covered four million more children in 2022 than in the previous year, a post-covid recovery that is slower in low-income countries, indicate official data announced this Friday.
According to a joint statement from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), global child immunization has begun to recover, after the setback caused by the pandemic, indicate the most recent reference figures. Recent diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) vaccinations.
Data released today by the two global organizations “reveals promising signs of recovery of immunization services in some countries,” but coverage “is still below pre-pandemic levels, putting children at high risk.” of disease outbreaks.
Of the 73 countries that saw substantial declines in coverage during the pandemic, 15 have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, 24 are recovering, and “most worryingly, 34 have plateaued or continue to decline,” according to data from WHO and UNICEF.
In 2022, 20.5 million children missed one or more vaccines administered through routine immunization services, up from 24.4 million children in 2021, they indicate.
Despite this improvement, the figure is still higher than the 18.4 million children who were left unvaccinated in 2019, before the interruptions related to the pandemic, indicate international organizations, defending the “need for a continuous effort to recover and strengthen the system”.
Of the 20.5 million children who did not receive one or more doses of the DTP vaccine in 2022, 14.3 million did not receive any dose, called “zero dose.”
This number represents an improvement from 2021’s 18.1 million “zero dose” children, but is still higher than 2019’s 12.9 million children, the report data notes.
“These data are encouraging and represent a tribute to those who have worked hard to restore vital immunization services after two years of sustained decline in immunization coverage,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said in the statement.
However, it considers that “global and regional averages do not tell the whole story, and mask serious and persistent inequalities” in some countries, with progress being verified mainly in nations “with good resources and large child populations, such as India and Indonesia.” .
These values ”disguise the slower recovery or even the continued decline in most low-income countries, especially for measles vaccination,” the official warns in the joint statement.
Vaccination against measles, one of the most infectious pathogens, has not had as positive a recovery as with other vaccines, putting another 35.2 million children at risk of measles infection, indicate data from international organizations.
“Behind the positive trend, there is a serious alert,” Catherine Russell, Unicef’s executive director, also said in the statement, defending the “urgency of strengthening efforts to reach more children and prevent deaths, because viruses, such as measles They do not recognize borders”
The data indicates that South Asia, which had seen gradual and continuous increases in coverage in the decade before the pandemic, “demonstrated a faster and stronger recovery than regions that suffered prolonged declines, such as Latin America and the Caribbean.” .
The African region, “which is lagging behind in recovery, faces an additional challenge: with growing child populations, countries must expand routine immunization services every year to maintain coverage levels.”
HPV vaccination coverage for the first time [Vírus do Papiloma Humano] exceeded pre-pandemic levels, and immunization programs reached the same number of girls in 2022 as in 2019.
The WHO and UNICEF also point out that various entities are working to accelerate recovery in all regions and across all immunization platforms through a global campaign that urges governments to reach children who were not vaccinated during the pandemic.
Source: TSF
