Millions of children at risk as vaccine uptake stalls
LONDON — Progress in vaccinating children against a variety of life-threatening diseases has stalled in the past two decades — and even gone backwards in some countries — a new global study suggests.
The situation has been made worse by the Covid pandemic, leaving millions of children unprotected from diseases such as measles, tuberculosis and polio.
The researchers are calling for a concerted effort to provide better and more equal access to vaccines.
Child health experts warn that cuts to international aid budgets that fund vaccination programs, combined with vaccine scepticism, are creating a "perfect storm".
The global childhood vaccination program has been a huge success.
Since 1974, more than four billion children have been vaccinated, preventing an estimated 150 million deaths worldwide.In nearly half a century until 2023, researchers say vaccine coverage doubled.But since 2010 progress has stagnated, to the extent that there are now wide variations in vaccine coverage around the world.A study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, says measles vaccinations have declined in nearly 100 countries.The Covid-19 pandemic made things even worse, because of disruption to vaccine programmes during lockdowns.By 2023, there were nearly 16 million children who had not had any childhood vaccinations – most of them in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia.Study author Dr Jonathan Mosser, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, in the United States, says large numbers of children remain under-vaccinated and un-vaccinated."Routine childhood vaccinations are among the most powerful and cost-effective public health interventions available, but persistent global inequalities, challenges from the Covid pandemic, and the growth of vaccine misinformation and hesitancy have all contributed to faltering immunisation progress," he said.Dr Mosser said there was now increased the risk of outbreaks of diseases such as measles, polio and diphtheria.All children should benefit from life-saving immunisations, he added.Wide discrepancies remain between vaccination rates in wealthier and lower-income countries.But the report's authors warn that vaccination rates have fallen in Europe, the US and other wealthy countries too.Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, says the findings present a concerning picture."More children will be hospitalised, permanently damaged and die from fully preventable diseases if the trend is not reversed."Alas, the cuts in global health funding mean that this situation is set to deteriorate," Prof Pollard said.Dr David Elliman, from University College London, says many factors have contributed to the current situation."Around the world, the increasing number of countries torn apart by civil unrest and wars, combined with the drastic cuts in foreign aid from rich nations, such as USA and UK, makes it difficult to get vaccines to many populations," he said."Where it appears that policy is being made on the basis of ill-informed opinion, rather than science, we have a perfect storm," Dr Elliman added.The researchers recommend that all countries try to strengthen primary healthcare systems and combat misinformation around vaccines to prevent parents being hesitant about getting their children vaccinated.They also call for a concerted effort to provide better and more equal access to vaccines around the world. — BBC
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Saudi Gazette
12 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Millions of children at risk as vaccine uptake stalls
LONDON — Progress in vaccinating children against a variety of life-threatening diseases has stalled in the past two decades — and even gone backwards in some countries — a new global study suggests. The situation has been made worse by the Covid pandemic, leaving millions of children unprotected from diseases such as measles, tuberculosis and polio. The researchers are calling for a concerted effort to provide better and more equal access to vaccines. Child health experts warn that cuts to international aid budgets that fund vaccination programs, combined with vaccine scepticism, are creating a "perfect storm". The global childhood vaccination program has been a huge success. Since 1974, more than four billion children have been vaccinated, preventing an estimated 150 million deaths nearly half a century until 2023, researchers say vaccine coverage since 2010 progress has stagnated, to the extent that there are now wide variations in vaccine coverage around the world.A study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, says measles vaccinations have declined in nearly 100 Covid-19 pandemic made things even worse, because of disruption to vaccine programmes during 2023, there were nearly 16 million children who had not had any childhood vaccinations – most of them in sub-Saharan Africa and south author Dr Jonathan Mosser, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, in the United States, says large numbers of children remain under-vaccinated and un-vaccinated."Routine childhood vaccinations are among the most powerful and cost-effective public health interventions available, but persistent global inequalities, challenges from the Covid pandemic, and the growth of vaccine misinformation and hesitancy have all contributed to faltering immunisation progress," he Mosser said there was now increased the risk of outbreaks of diseases such as measles, polio and children should benefit from life-saving immunisations, he discrepancies remain between vaccination rates in wealthier and lower-income the report's authors warn that vaccination rates have fallen in Europe, the US and other wealthy countries Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, says the findings present a concerning picture."More children will be hospitalised, permanently damaged and die from fully preventable diseases if the trend is not reversed."Alas, the cuts in global health funding mean that this situation is set to deteriorate," Prof Pollard David Elliman, from University College London, says many factors have contributed to the current situation."Around the world, the increasing number of countries torn apart by civil unrest and wars, combined with the drastic cuts in foreign aid from rich nations, such as USA and UK, makes it difficult to get vaccines to many populations," he said."Where it appears that policy is being made on the basis of ill-informed opinion, rather than science, we have a perfect storm," Dr Elliman researchers recommend that all countries try to strengthen primary healthcare systems and combat misinformation around vaccines to prevent parents being hesitant about getting their children also call for a concerted effort to provide better and more equal access to vaccines around the world. — BBC
Al Arabiya
12-06-2025
- Al Arabiya
Falling birthrates may not be such a bad thing, experts say
Fertility rates around the world are on a trajectory to dip low enough to be unable to sustain population levels by the end of the century, according to a study published in The Lancet. The shift promises to divide nations into two camps: those facing dramatic population decline and those experiencing 'baby booms' in less developed regions prone to socioeconomic instability, senior researcher Stein Emil Vollset from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle said in a statement. The study concludes that three-quarters (76 percent) of the world's countries - 155 of 204 countries and territories worldwide - will have fertility rates below population replacement levels in the next 25 years. By century's end, researchers predict a world split between nations unable to support aging populations and others grappling with unsustainable growth. The predictions are based on surveys, censuses, and other sources of data collected from 1950 through 2021 as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study. A 2024 study by Gitau Mburu, James Kiarie, and Pascale Allotey, also published in The Lancet, summarizes that the consequences of a low global total fertility rate may include both pros and cons. 'Low TFR (Total Fertility Rate) could lead to benefits related to population growth, environment, food security, health, climate change, and biodiversity. But it could also have negative ramifications on population ageing, health care, pensions, social security, some labour supply, and nationalistic geopolitics,' it said. Population tracking isn't new 'Even in ancient times, emperors, for example, were keen to understand population growth because it was important to organize production and plan defense strategies,' Professor of Sociology at the American University of Sharjah and Head of the International Studies Department Dr. Yuting Wang told Al Arabiya English. 'You must know how many subjects you have to understand the tax base. There has always been this concern that if the population is too small, then you lose that tax base,' she added. Through the years, the world has witnessed persistently changing patterns in population growth. Concerns about population growth first emerged in the early nineteenth century, coinciding with the onset of the Industrial Revolution in Europe, which led to increased food availability. From there, the transition took on a different shape. 'We have gone through different stages. From very high birth and mortality rates to low birth and mortality rates. At some point, because birth rates remained very high, mortality rates were dropping. That is when there was concern that the population is going to explode,' she explained. 'Now we have entered a low growth and birth rate phase, where mortality rates also remain very low. We are sort of looking at a shrinking population.' Trends not unprecedented The trends in population growth are not unprecedented and do not symbolize signs of impending doom, said Wang. Instead, what this means for sociologists is that it is time to shift priorities and reconsider how to embrace the economy with a smaller population. However, accommodating a diminishing population in an ever-growing economy may be setting up the world for failure, she added. While machine learning has been used to replace human labor in some fields, meaning not as many people are needed in the labor force, 'We're facing a different demography and so we'll have to make some changes in terms of policy,' Wang said. Despite the changes, an altered demography will affect certain industries. For example, she explained that a decrease in the number of newborns will affect sectors of childcare and early education. Japan exemplifies this reality, with entire educational institutions closing as student populations shrink. Population trends vary However, populations trends vary throughout the world based on a multitude of socioeconomic factors and continue to challenge notions about the world. 'In countries in Africa, we continue to see a high birthrate. The population growth is going to be different in different locations. It's going to challenge some of these well-established understandings of the world,' she said. There is also a distinct correlation between economic development in a nation and the birthrate, Wang said. 'It's a natural trajectory – when your economy grows, then especially young people who spend more time of their lives in educational institutions are going to postpone marriage and the time of the first birth of their child. And then that's going to lead to population decrease,' she said. A hundred years may constitute up to five generations in the past. However, today a century may only witness the existence of four generations or less, she explained, adding that it is natural in a more mature economy for people to have less children. Effects of technology There are multiple factors at play, and the correlation with economic standing is not the only one that exists. A single-approach explanation such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or status of the economy is not comprehensively effective. 'There's a lot of other factors that can affect the way that people understand the world, and understand their opportunities and obstacles in it,' Wang said. Birthrates in less economically developed countries continue to remain high because people are unable to either fully understand the cost of having children or they feel like there are no other ways to change their economic outlook, she added. 'Somewhere in a small village in Ethiopia, for example, where maybe culture emphasizes the value of family and people are unable to see any government support – people will tend to have more children because they will rely on them for security in old age,' she said. But as young people migrate to cities and gain opportunities, reproductive choices shift, Wang added. Increase in women's autonomy To some extent, Wang attributes falling birthrates to a general increase in women's empowerment due to a higher level of education and mass education drives being implemented in most countries. 'There's still discrimination, but most governments have been trying to at least provide more education to women,' she said following up with examples from Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi government, in collaboration with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has been distributing contraceptive devices and raising awareness about effective family planning, which also helps women receive more opportunities to participate in the paid labor force. 'These are short-term educational programs that have had positive outcomes. Without improving the overall GDP, Bangladesh was able to reduce its birthrate,' she said. She drew a direct correlation between women's empowerment and falling birthrates, saying 'when you have drastic increase in women taking leadership roles, it changes their understanding of what works best for them which could be reflected in their reproductive choices.' Balancing hope and doom Wang said the rapidly-evolving emergence of Artificial Intelligence has also helped shape values on reproduction among young people. A generation living in fear of being replaced by machines sees little benefit in producing offsprings. 'Every sector has been shaken up by AI, or at least there's potential threats. AI can replace a lot of work already, and it is learning at stunning speeds. I can only imagine what young people might want.' 'There's also some of these inventions that might change the situation. The artificial womb, for example, could solve that issue of population decline. Maybe they can keep the population at a certain level. It sounds like sci-fi, but it's happening. And then they can control genetic composition. So, they can produce better humans. That's why young people don't really feel there's a necessity to naturally reproduce,' she added. Use of AI in reproductive health At a time when falling birthrates are causing concern among most, the use Artificial Intelligence in reproductive health is beginning to receive both optimism and scrutiny. A technical brief by the World Health Organization and the UN Special Program on Human Reproduction (HRP) examines the opportunities and risks involved in AI use pertaining to reproductive and sexual health. 'AI is already transforming technology for sexual and reproductive health. If we're aware about the potential dangers, and cautious about implementation, and recognize AI as a tool and not a solution, we have a great opportunity to make sexual and reproductive services and information more accessible to all,' said Dr. Pascale Allotey, Director of HRP and WHO's Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health. The organization has also conducted a scoping review to examine the use of AI in infertility and fertility care, WHO shared with Al Arabiya English. Some of these uses included predicting assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes by training models on selected clinical and laboratory features, embryo selection assisted by machine learning techniques, as well as assessment of assessment of fertility parameters, such as hormonal levels, reproductive organ health and sperm motility. 'One of our next steps as WHO is to conduct a more thorough analysis of the identified studies. We are also embarking on efforts to provide evidence-based recommendations and implementation considerations for effectively and responsibly using AI to advance SRH, including for infertility and fertility care,' WHO added. Ongoing research Focusing on the growing global need for fertility treatments, an IVF-AI project started in November 2024 led by Helsinki University in collaboration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and CGI. Using AI-enabled precision medicine, the model aims to predict the general success probability of fertility treatments and offer recommendations for best line of treatment for couples. The project hopes to improve the success rate and cost-effectiveness if fertility treatments, using techniques such as clinical image analysis, developing comprehensive predictive models using patient and image data, and medical imaging recognition methods using AI. 'From the patient's perspective, it is crucial to receive realistic information about how likely the treatment is to succeed,' Helsinki University's Head of Reproductive Medicine Hanna Savolainen-Peltonen said in a statement released earlier this year. 'The aim of this project is for couples to conceive more quickly and for clinicians to save time,' she added. Silver lining A decline in birthrates may be a natural transition in terms of population growth patterns, Wang argued. When there are high mortality rates, the world needs high birthrates to maintain balance. Today, with overall developments in healthcare prompting a drop in mortality rates, the world might need lower birthrates to tip the scales. 'Our economy is built on mass consumption. Production is built on mass consumption, which is certainly not sustainable as it hurts the environment. So, population decline may not be a bad thing eventually,' she said. 'In the grand scheme of things, they want a bigger population because it generates more' Wang added. Wang said concerns about falling birthrates are often connected to fears about the economy and losing a consumer base, 'We're worried about falling birthrates because we're always thinking we won't have a consumer base and the economy is going to collapse.' 'But why do we sustain the unsustainable model of action? There's something wrong with that production model,' she added.
Saudi Gazette
06-06-2025
- Saudi Gazette
Measles holiday warning as cases rise in Europe
LONDON — Families traveling abroad this summer on holiday or to visit relatives are being warned about the rise in measles cases in Europe and other regions. Measles infections in Europe are at a 25-year high, while cases are also surging in countries such as Pakistan and Nigeria. Childhood vaccination rates in the UK that offer protection against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) are still a long way below the recommended 95% uptake, with the lowest regional rates found in London at just over 73% vaccinated. The UK Health Security Agency is warning holidaymakers to make sure they are up to date with their vaccinations and stress that it is never too late to get vaccinated. The UKHSA's latest data on measles infections shows that an outbreak is continuing in England. Some 109 cases were confirmed in April and 86 so far in May. These cases have mostly been in unvaccinated children aged 10 years and under. London has reported almost half of all cases in the past four weeks. Dr Vanessa Saliba, consultant epidemiologist at the UK Health Security Agency, says the rise in cases in England reflects what is happening abroad - and that's a concern as the summer holiday season gets going. "It's essential that everyone, particularly parents of young children, check all family members are up to date with two MMR doses, especially if you are traveling this summer for holidays or visiting family," Dr Saliba said. "Measles cases are picking up again in England and outbreaks are happening in Europe and many countries with close links to the UK." Measles spreads very easily and can be a nasty disease, leading to complications like ear and chest infections and inflammation of the brain with some children tragically ending up in hospital and suffering life-long consequences, Dr Saliba added. "Nobody wants this for their child and it's not something you want to experience when away on holiday." The decline in vaccination rates in the UK - particularly since the Covid pandemic - has been mirrored in other countries, especially in Europe. The World Health Organization and UNICEF reported 127,350 measles cases in the European Region in 2024 - double the number of cases reported during the previous year and the highest number since 1997. This year has seen outbreaks in several other European countries popular with UK holidaymakers, including France, Italy, Spain and Germany. The WHO has also reported that Romania, Pakistan, India, Thailand, Indonesia and Nigeria currently have among the largest number of measles cases worldwide. There has been a big push to improve MMR vaccination rates across the UK, but Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care and community services at NHS England, says there is still a lot of work to do. "Too many babies and young children are still not protected against the diseases, which are contagious infections that spread very easily and can cause serious health problems. "MMR jabs are provided free as part of the NHS routine immunization program – and I would encourage all parents to act on invites or check vaccination records if they think they may have missed their child's vaccination." Health experts say that anyone, whatever their age, who has not had two doses of the MMR vaccine can contact their GP surgery to book an appointment and that it is never too late to catch up. Common symptoms include: high fever sore, red and watery eyes runny nose coughing sneezing Small white spots may appear inside the mouth. A blotchy red or brown rash usually appears after a few days, typically on the face and behind the ears, before spreading to the rest of the body. It can be harder to see on brown and black skin. Measles normally clears up within seven to 10 days. However, it can lead to pneumonia, meningitis, blindness and seizures. Babies and young children, pregnant women and those with a weakened immune system are at increased risk. Getting it while pregnant can lead to stillbirth, miscarriage or babies being born small. Measles can be fatal, but this is rare. — BBC
