As countries were focusing on Covid-19 in 2020, around 7.7 million African children were being put at risk, new figures by two agencies of the United Nations suggest.
The children missed out on vital first doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP-1), measles and polio vaccines last year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
The nearly ten percent rise in missed vaccinations in Africa was driven by disruptions to health services by the Covid-19 pandemic, with Ethiopia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo among the ten countries globally that recorded the greatest number of unvaccinated children.
‘We have gone backwards on other vaccinations, leaving children at risk from devastating but preventable diseases like measles, polio or meningitis’, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in his reaction to the findings.
He warned that multiple disease outbreaks could be catastrophic for communities and health systems already under pressure from Covid-19.
‘This makes it even more urgent than ever to invest in childhood vaccinations and to ensure that every child is reached’, the WHO chief cautioned.
The WHO-UNICEF estimates of National Immunisation Coverage, which were published on 15 July, 2021, are the first to reflect global service disruptions due to Covid-19.
Overall, the continent still accounts for the highest percentage of ‘zero dose’ children (those who have not received DTP-1) in the world.
Last year, 3.7 million more children globally missed out on routine immunisation than in 2019; and in Africa, 1.7 million children did not receive their third dose of the DTP containing vaccine in 2020.
Data for the WHO African region showed reductions in percentage coverage across board between 2019 and 2020
‘Coverage for the DTP-1 vaccine fell by a percentage point to 79 percent in 2020, for DTP-3 from 74 percent to 72 percent, and for MCV1 from 70 percent to 68 percent’, WHO said in a statement.
‘Globally, DTP-1 coverage fell from 90 percent to 87 percent between 2019 and 2020, from 86 percent to 83 percent for DTP-3, and 86 percent to 84 percent for MCV1’.
These vaccination rates are far below the 90 percent coverage target of Africa’s Regional Vaccine Action Plan and the 95 percent coverage recommended by WHO to protect against measles.
Source: WHO
Photo source: Save the Children UK
