Over 1.44 million children in India remained unvaccinated in 2023 making the country one the eight where more than of the children did not receive essential vaccines that year, according to an analysis published in The Lancet journal.
The study is based on and it found out that globally, 15.7 million children did not receive any doses of diphtheria, tetanus or pertussis in their first year of birth. The study has also analysed the vaccine coverage across 204 countries between 1980 and 2023. It focused on 11 key vaccines recommended for all children as her World Health Organisation that includes diphtheria, measles, polio, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and rotavirus.
Zero-Dose Children
According to the study, WHO’s Essential Programme on Immunisation in 1974 prevented the deaths of approximately 154 million children. And the study revealed that from 1980 to 2019, the number of “zero-dose” children declined sharply by 75 per cent, falling from nearly 59 million to 14.7 million. However, the COVID-19 pandemic reversed the recorded progress and in 2021, the global number of zero-dose children went up again at 18.6 million given that the health services were widely disrupted.
The study stated that with the onset of respiratory issues among children due to COVID-19, the vaccines, like pneumococcal and rotavirus got preference over the core vaccines such as DTP, measles, and polio.
Another notable point that the study revealed is that the high-income countries also recorded the decline in childhood vaccination during the pandemic.
What Are The Numbers Saying?
The data from 2023 revealed that more than half of the world’s 15.7 million unvaccinated children were living in eight countries and they are primarily in sub-Saharan Africa which consisted of 53 per cent of the unvaccinated children and 13 per cent were in South Asia.
The eight countries include Nigeria with 2.48 million, India with 1.44 million, the Democratic Republic of Congo with 882,000, Ethiopia with 782,000, Somalia with 710,000, Sudan with 627,000, Indonesia with 538,000 and Brazil with 452,000.
How To Change The Scenario?
The study has urged for interventions by authorities in different countries in order to meet the Immunisation Agenda 2030 which targets to halving the number of zero-dose children, compared to 2019 levels and with the aim of covering 90 per cent vaccines among children globally.
Some of the strategies to improve the situation includes strengthening the primary healthcare system in poor countries.
Spreading awareness about vaccination and battling misinformation is also another important way. The study also urged to focus on conflict-torn areas. WHO's 'Big Catch-Up' campaign can also continue to bridge the gap, said the study.
