The vaccination campaign against measles, a potentially fatal disease, has been reduced worldwide due to the pandemic Covid-19, putting millions of children at risk, a report by the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released today highlights.
The measles virus is one of the most contagious, but the vaccine is highly effective in preventing infection. However, 95% vaccination coverage is required to avoid outbreaks of transmission.
"For three years we have been sounding the alarm about the decline in vaccination coverage rates and the increased health risk to children around the world," said Ephraim Tekle Lemango, Unicef's immunisation programme manager, stressing that the window of opportunity to recover lost ground is narrowing.
Because of Covid-19, "immunization programmes have been severely affected," said Tedros Adanom Gebrejesus, director general of the World Health Organization. "Behind every statistic in the report is a child at risk of a preventable disease," he pointed out."
In the past year, some 40 million children did not receive a dose of measles vaccine: the first for 25 million and the second for 14.7 million, according to the joint WHO and CDC report.
As a result, the global measles vaccination coverage rate is estimated to be at its lowest level since 2008. Countries such as Nigeria, India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Indonesia are in the red.
From the beginning of 2022, the World Health Organization has recorded an increase in severe epidemic cases. Last April, the WHO warned that reported measles cases had increased by almost 80% in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2021.
[/P]Source: Proto Thema
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