The decline was even worse in some major vaccine programs. Full three-dose coverage for the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine (DTP) was 81 percent in 2021, a five percentage point drop from 2019. DTP is often used as a benchmark for vaccine coverage globally because it is widely in use. decades. Similar alarming declines occurred in coverage of measles and polio, two diseases that can have devastating and deadly effects.
Vaccine coverage for human papillomavirus (HPV) has also declined by five percentage points since 2019. Since the vaccine is relatively new and not as widely used as some others, this means that a quarter of all global coverage has been lost, which is a huge blow. Health of women and children.
“This is a red alert for child health. We are witnessing the largest sustained drop in childhood vaccinations in a generation. Outcomes will be measured in life,” said Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF, a UN agency focused on childhood health. “Covid-19 is not an excuse.”
Data shows that the number of children either not fully vaccinated with DTP, which prevents many potentially fatal diseases, including whooping cough, or not vaccinated at all for it, increased from 19 million in 2019. increased to 25 million in 2021. The prevalence of these children is very uneven, with 18 million in low- and middle-income countries; The highest numbers were recorded in India, Nigeria, Indonesia, Ethiopia and the Philippines.
Some experts fear that with a growing population in Africa, as well as rapid demographic change in many parts of the world producing more children, the pandemic could make it even more difficult to catch up with.
The decline in these vaccinations amid the global coronavirus vaccine effort may seem surprising. By any measure, the development of coronavirus vaccines happened at a record pace. The global rollout, though fraught with logistical problems and hoarding by wealthy countries, has seen a huge dose of 12 billion administered since the pandemic began.
But despite the focus on vaccines over the past two years, the pandemic has had many impacts on routine vaccination efforts, from lockdowns to closed borders, to the general impact of large levels of illness and death.
Even the unprecedented focus on vaccination efforts could have had a negative impact, a major backlash from anti-vaccine or vaccine hesitation. Money spent on vaccines for long-standing diseases like measles and polio has been diverted in some cases.
“There has never been more money in global public health than it is now,” said Lily Caprani, head of government advocacy for UNICEF. “But that doesn’t mean it’s going to children’s services. The opposite is true: basic essential health services and routine immunizations have experienced massive divergence. [of funding],
Caprani said that while many global efforts have been launched to better prepare for the next pandemic, some have taken a closer look at “basic frontline health” such as community-based health care workers.
The focus on the pandemic has also decreased recently, particularly in the wealthier countries of North America and Europe, where domestic focus has been on inflation and international attention has largely been confined to the war in Ukraine. Demand for supplements is low in many countries, with tracking firm Airfinity recently announcing that at least 1 billion was wasted during the pandemic.
However, the coronavirus could still cause further disruption. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned this week that “new waves of the virus again demonstrate that COVID-19 is nowhere,” with concerns particularly about BA. 4 and B.A. 5 subvariants.
The rapid spread of monkeypox internationally, far beyond where the disease was commonly found in the past, poses a new challenge to vaccination efforts. The FDA has come under sharp criticism for not ensuring sufficient supply to meet demand in the United States.
There is some hope that vaccination efforts can get back on track. Some countries, including Uganda and Pakistan, managed to maintain a high level of coverage during the pandemic. Ongoing efforts to strengthen global health infrastructure after COVID-19 can be used to better ensure routine immunization.
“Planning and dealing with Covid-19 must also go hand-in-hand with vaccination for life-threatening diseases such as measles, pneumonia and diarrhea,” Tedros said in a statement on Thursday. “It is not a question of either/or, it is possible to do both.”
Jennifer Riquejo, global health data lead for UNICEF, said the current trends were alarming, but that global vaccination rates have increased after the stagnation of the previous period. There are things that can be done,” Reczo said. “We know this is possible through political commitment” [and] through more resources. ,
But the global rollout of coronavirus vaccines has shown that even with enormous resources, achieving high levels of vaccination can be a struggle. “Even in high-income countries, you see the enormous effort it takes to mobilize these armies of vaccinators,” Caprani said. “And they don’t have that workforce in low- and middle-income countries with weak health systems.”
Ricquejo said that even before the pandemic, vaccination coverage rates for DTP had stabilized somewhat due to rapidly increasing population numbers in major countries. “There are some areas, like Africa, where you have a growing birth group. So in 2008 the 85 percent coverage is X number of people, but it’s X plus a few million more that you need to deliver to maintain that level, Recuzo said.
The United Nations Population Division on Monday estimated the world’s population to reach 8 billion by the end of this year. Some countries are expected to see their populations increase dramatically, such as Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which already have millions of children who have not been vaccinated. Both are expected to see their population increase to more than 100 million by 2050.