Two and a half million children in the world are deprived of immunization
Two and a half million children in the world are deprived of immunization
New York: United Nations agencies World Health Organization (WHO) and Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have sounded the alarm and said that according to recent data, 2.5 million children cannot be given life-saving vaccines while Immunization coverage continued to decline globally.
According to data released by UNICEF and the WHO, this is the biggest drop in childhood vaccinations recorded in nearly 30 years, with children missing three diseases: diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (DTP3). A decrease of 5 percentage points was recorded between 2019 and 2021 in preventive immunization coverage, after which vaccine coverage fell to 81 percent.
The report states that as a result, nearly two and a half million children missed one or more immunizations in 2021 alone, this number is 20 lakh more than 2020 and 60 lakh more than 2019, due to which an increasing number of children are exposed to diseases. There are risks, which can be prevented. There are several factors contributing to the lack of immunization, including children living in conflict zones, where access to immunization is a challenge.
