One in four children in Latin America and the Caribbean does not have vaccine protection against three potentially deadly illnesses, a UN report warned on Monday that vaccination rates would plummet. ..
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Pan American Health Organization, 90% of children in the region were vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (DTP3) in 2015, but by 2020 Has decreased to three-quarters. (PAHO), Regional Office of the World Health Organization.
This means that about 2.5 million children are not fully protected, of which 1.5 million have never been given in a triple dose regimen.
Globally, according to WHO, 17.1 million infants were not initially given the DTP3 vaccine in 2020, and an additional 5.6 million were only partially vaccinated.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, preventable disease outbreaks “have already occurred,” officials said.
In 2013, only five people had diphtheria in the area. It is a bacterial disorder that can lead to dyspnea, heart failure and even death.
Five years later, that number was close to 900.
The number of cases of measles (another disease that can be prevented by vaccination) has also increased from nearly 500 in 2013 to more than 23,000 in 2019, the statement said.
“The decline in vaccination rates in the region is alarming,” said Jean Goff, UNICEF’s regional director.
There were various reasons.
“The situation in the region has changed over the last five years. The government is paying attention to other new public health issues such as Zika fever, Chikungunya fever and more recently COVID-19,” UNICEF neonatal experts said. Ralph Midi told AFP.
“In addition to people living in isolated and hard-to-reach areas, the presence of migrant populations that are difficult to find and do not always have access to regular medical services also impede the vaccination process,” Midi said. He said.
The downward trend began before the COVID-19 epidemic. This exacerbated the situation as some people interrupted primary care services and avoided clinics and hospitals for fear of the virus.
“As countries recover from a pandemic, the recurrence of disease outbreaks poses a serious risk to society as a whole, so urgent action is needed to prevent further declines in (vaccine) coverage,” Gough said. I am saying.
