By Kemo Cham
More than 1 in 10 children missed out on lifesaving vaccines for deadly diseases like measles, diphtheria and tetanus in 2018, posing dangerous levels of stagnation of global vaccine coverage, new data released by the World Health Organization and the UN children agency UNICEF has revealed.
The report containing the data which was released on July 15 cited conflict, inequality and complacency as causes of the situation which it says poses the risk of outbreaks of deadly preventable disease.
Globally, since 2010, vaccination coverage with three doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) and one dose of the measles vaccine has stalled at around 86 percent, the report says. It notes that while this looks high, it is hardly sufficient as 95 percent coverage is the recommended level to ensure protection against outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
“Vaccines are one of our most important tools for preventing outbreaks and keeping the world safe,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, said in the statement.
“While most children today are being vaccinated, far too many are left behind. Unacceptably, it’s often those who are most at risk– the poorest, the most marginalized, those touched by conflict or forced from their homes - who are persistently missed,” he added.
According to the UN health agency, most unvaccinated children live in the poorest countries, and are disproportionately in fragile or conflict-affected states. Almost half of these are in just 16 countries, 10 of which are in Africa. WHO says if these children get sick, they are at risk of the severest health consequences, and least likely to access lifesaving treatment and care.
Measles and gaps in coverage
The report notes that stark disparities in vaccine access persist across and within countries of all income levels. And this, it said, has resulted in devastating measles outbreaks in many parts of the world – including countries that have high overall vaccination rates.
Sierra Leone is one of the countries that have been bugged by recurrent outbreak of measles, which is a deadly viral disease. In the last three years, Sierra Leone has recorded at least two outbreaks of the disease.
The WHO report said in 2018, almost 350,000 measles cases were reported globally, more than double what was recorded the previous year.
“Measles is a real time indicator of where we have more work to do to fight preventable diseases,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF’s Executive Director.
“Because measles is so contagious, an outbreak points to communities that are missing out on vaccines due to access, costs or, in some places, complacency. We have to exhaust every effort to immunize every child,” she added.
The report highlights the link between low coverage of vaccination and outbreaks. It says several countries with high incidence and high coverage have significant groups of people who have missed the measles vaccine in the past, underscoring how low coverage over time or discrete communities of unvaccinated people can spark deadly outbreaks.
HPV vaccine
For the first time, the WHO has provided data on the coverage of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which protects girls against cervical cancer later in life.
As of 2018, according to the report, 90 countries – home to 1 in 3 girls worldwide - had introduced the HPV vaccine into their national programmes. But just 13 of these countries are lower-income countries, meaning those most at risk of the devastating impacts of this form of cancer are still least likely to have access to the vaccine.
The report also notes ongoing efforts by partners including the Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), WHO and UNICEF in supporting countries to strengthen their immunization systems and outbreak response, notably by vaccinating all children with routine immunization, conducting emergency campaigns, and training and equipping health workers as an essential part of quality primary healthcare.
© 2019 Politico Online
