One of the big lessons that pandemic is the important role vaccines They act as guarantors of public health on a global level. vaccines stimulate our immune system to protect us from further infection or illness. Vaccines are positioned as the best tool in the prevention of disabilities and deaths for vaccine-preventable diseases. These diseases have a significant impact on public health and, thanks to routine immunization schedules its prevalence and mortality have been reduced, especially in children.
The Covid-19 has confronted humanity with the worst health crisis in at least the last 100 years. The measures and restrictions put in place to control the virus, the fear of contagion, the impossibility of continuing international aid programs and the collapse of health systems at the most critical times, caused the largest drop. sustained childhood immunizations over the past three decades.
The new data released jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF has set off all the alarms. Their report shows that global vaccination coverage continued to decline in 2021 despite having already passed the most critical moments of the pandemic.
Between 2019 and 2021, the percentage of children who received all three doses of vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (DTP3) fell by five percentage points. A figure that translates to more than 25 million children who missed one or more doses of DTP through routine immunization services last year.
The bodies responsible for the report point out that it is a increase of two million more children than in 2020 and six million more than in 2019. Thus, we are facing an alarming situation since we are talking about millions of children around the world, especially in low and middle income countries, who are at risk of suffering from devastating diseases but preventable.
“This is a red alert for children’s health. We are seeing the largest sustained decline in childhood immunizations in a generation. The consequences will be measured in lives.”
Among the main reasons for this continued decline, the report highlights a increase in the number of children living in fragile environments and conflict zones where access to routine immunization vaccines is a challenge. Additional problems are the lack of information or, even worse, the spread of misleading or false information about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. Of course, Covid-19 continued to disrupt these services and supply chains due to the diversion of resources to SARS-CoV-2 response and containment efforts.
‘RED ALERT FOR CHILDREN’S HEALTH’
Of the 25 million children mentioned, 18 million did not receive a single dose of DTP in 2021. Most of them live in India, Nigeria, Indonesia, Ethiopia there Filipinoswhich are the nations reporting the highest rates of unvaccinated minors. Burma there mozambique rank among the two countries with the largest relative increases in the number of children who did not receive a single vaccine between 2019 and 2021. Immunization coverage has declined in all regions, parts of East Asia Eastern and Pacific being those that recorded a more pronounced inversion DTP3 coverage.
Two positive cases stand out. The first of them is Uganda which managed to maintain high levels of coverage in routine vaccination programs, while implementing a specific vaccination program against Covid-19. Pakistan it has regained pre-pandemic coverage levels thanks to the government’s commitment to immunization.
“A malnourished child has weakened immunity and missed vaccinations can mean that common childhood illnesses become fatal for them. The convergence of a hunger crisis with a growing immunization gap threatens to create the conditions for a child survival crisis.
“This is a red alert for children’s health. We attend the largest sustained decline in childhood immunizations in a generation. The consequences will be measured in lives,” he warned. Catherine RussellExecutive Director of UNICEF.
“While a pandemic hangover was expected last year due to the disruptions and lockdowns caused by Covid-19, what we are seeing now is a continued decline. Covid-19 is no excuse. We need to catch up on vaccinating millions of missing children or we will inevitably see more epidemics, more sick children and greater strain on already overstretched health systems. »
Global data indicates that more than a quarter of the vaccine coverage achieved against the virus has been lost. human papilloma virus (HPV) in 2019, which has serious implications for the health of women and girls. Global coverage of the first HPV dose is barely 15%, while the first serums were licensed more than 15 years ago.
TWO YEARS OF REVERSAL AFTER A DECADE OF STATUS
The report regrets that expectations for 2021 have not been met. It is hoped that this was the year of recovery allowing the reconstruction of immunization programs. In exchange, DTP3 coverage is at its lowest level since 2008. A situation which, together with declining immunization coverage rates against other basic diseases, has diverted the world from achieving global goals, including the immunization indicator envisaged in the Sustainable Development Goals (ODS) by 2030.
“Covid-19 planning and response must also go hand in hand with vaccination against deadly diseases such as measles, pneumonia and diarrhoea”
WHO and UNICEF also warn that the historic reversal of routine immunization occurs in a context where Severe acute malnutrition rates have increased rapidly. “A malnourished child has weakened immunity and missed vaccinations can mean that common childhood illnesses become fatal for them. The convergence of a hunger crisis with a growing immunization gap threatens to create the conditions for a child survival crisis.
“Planning for and combating Covid-19 must also go hand in hand with vaccination against deadly diseases such as the virus. measlesthe pneumonia and the diarrhea“asked the director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “It’s not one or the other. It’s possible to do both.”
The document warns that monumental efforts will be needed to regain pre-pandemic levels of progress, and vaccine-preventable infectious disease outbreaks have already begun to occur in many countries.
Coverage of the first dose against measles fell to 81% in 2021, the lowest level since 2008. This means that 24.7 million children did not receive their first dose of measles in 2021, 5.3 million more than in 2019 14.7 million more did not receive the second dose they needed.
Likewise, compared to 2019, an additional 6.7 million children did not receive the third dose of the flu vaccine. poliomyelitis and 3.5 million have not received the first dose of the HPV vaccine, which protects girls against cervical cancer later in life.
The sharp decline that has occurred over the past two years is the next step in a decade in which progress stagnated. This underscores the need to address not only the disruptions caused by the pandemic, but also the systemic challenges of immunization to ensure that vaccines reach all children and adolescents.
Because we all need health… ConSalud.es