Increased misinformation and disruption of global supply chains due to COVID-19 are behind the biggest sustained decline in childhood vaccinations in three decades, a UN report says.
The percentage of children who received three doses of the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP) vaccine fell by five percentage points between 2019 and 2021 to 81 percent, according to official figures released on Thursday by the WHO and UNICEF.
This vaccine is used as a marker of immunization coverage within and between countries.
Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director, said the slide “is a red flag for children’s health”.
“We are witnessing the largest sustained decline in childhood immunization in a generation. The consequences will be measured in lives,” she added.
About 25 million children missed one or more doses of DTP in 2021, two million more than those who missed in 2020 and six million more than in 2019, putting a growing number of children at risk of preventable diseases.
The decline is due to multiple factors, including increased numbers of children living in conflict zones, increasing misinformation and service and supply disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and lockdowns that limit information campaigns.
The pandemic has “forced parents and families to choose between putting food on the table and vaccinating their children,” said Kate O’Brien, director of the WHO’s Division of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals.
Of the 25 million, 18 million did not receive a single dose of DTP in 2021, “the majority of whom live in low- and middle-income countries,” it said in a statement.
Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and the Philippines recorded the highest number of zero dose children.
Worldwide, a quarter of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage achieved in 2019 has been lost, a blow to the fight against cervical cancer.
Only 12 percent of girls are fully protected, even though the first vaccines were licensed more than 15 years ago.
Observers had hoped that 2021 would be a year of recovery from the 2020 lockdown – but instead it was the worst year for DTP coverage since 2008 and came amid rising levels of severe acute malnutrition.
“The convergence of a hunger crisis with a growing immunization gap threatens to create the conditions for a child survival crisis,” the statement said.
Coverage of the first dose of measles fell to 81 percent in 2021, also the lowest level since 2008.
Declines were seen in every region, although some countries, including Pakistan and Uganda, bucked the negative trend.
Global organizations have urged countries to step up efforts to catch up on vaccinations. The detailed data sets can be accessed on the UNICEF and WHO websites.
© Agence France-Presse
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