The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF have warned that around 2-3 million children across the world may miss life-saving vaccines and immunisation programmes around the world due to disruptions caused by Covid-19. These vaccines are used to protect children against life-threatening diseases such as measles, smallpox, DTP3, among others.
According to new data by WHO and UNICEF, these disruptions are now a threat which can reverse the hard-won progress against deadly diseases through immunisation programmes. “Vaccines are one of the most powerful tools in the history of public health, and more children are now being immunized than ever before. But the pandemic has put those gains at risk. The avoidable suffering and death caused by children missing out on routine immunisations could be far greater than Covid-19 itself,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General, WHO.
Several countries are facing disruptions in the delivery and uptake of immunisation services due to the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown. Due to an increase in the number of cases not only in India but in various countries, at least 30 measles vaccination campaigns are at risk of being cancelled, which could result in a further outbreak in 2020 and beyond. In many cases where services for vaccination are offered, people are unable to reach for their kids’ vaccination due to interruptions, economic hardships, restrictions on movement, or fear of coronavirus infection.
Most of the cases are from Africa where one of the reasons is lack of access to health services during the pandemic. Two-third of them are concentrated in 10 middle and low-income countries like Angola, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Philippines. Covid-19 has directly affected immunisation which is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions till date.