Children in Pakistan among millions under threat as vaccine coverage faltering — study
PARIS: Efforts to vaccinate children against deadly diseases are faltering across the world due to economic inequality, Covid-era disruptions and misinformation, putting millions of lives at risk, research warned Wednesday.
These trends all increase the threat of future outbreaks of preventable diseases, the researchers said, while sweeping foreign aid cuts threaten previous progress in vaccinating the world's children.
A new study published in The Lancet journal looked at childhood vaccination rates across 204 countries and territories.
It was not all bad news.
An immunization program by the World Health Organization was estimated to have saved an estimated 154 million lives over the last 50 years.
And vaccination coverage against diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, polio and tuberculosis doubled between 1980 and 2023, the international team of researchers found.
However the gains slowed in the 2010s, when measles vaccinations decreased in around half of the countries, with the largest drop in Latin America.
Meanwhile in more than half of all high-income countries there were declines in coverage for at least one vaccine dose.
Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
Routine vaccination services were hugely disrupted during lockdowns and other measures, resulting in nearly 13 million extra children who never received any vaccine dose between 2020 to 2023, the study said.
This disparity endured, particularly in poorer countries. In 2023, more than half of the world's 15.7 million completely unvaccinated children lived in just eight countries, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the study.
In the European Union, 10 times more measles cases were recorded last year compared to 2023.
In the United States, a measles outbreak surged past 1,000 cases across 30 states last month, which is already more than were recorded in all of 2024.
Cases of polio, long eradicated in many areas thanks to vaccination, have been rising in Pakistan and Afghanistan, while Papua New Guinea is currently enduring a polio outbreak.
'Routine childhood vaccinations are among the most powerful and cost-effective public health interventions available,' said senior study author Jonathan Mosser of the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).
'But persistent global inequalities, challenges from the COVID pandemic, and the growth of vaccine misinformation and hesitancy have all contributed to faltering immunization progress,' he said in a statement.
In addition, there are 'rising numbers of displaced people and growing disparities due to armed conflict, political volatility, economic uncertainty, climate crises,' added lead study author Emily Haeuser, also from the IHME.
The researchers warned the setbacks could threaten the WHO's goal of having 90 percent of the world's children and adolescents receive essential vaccines by 2030.
The WHO also aims to halve the number of children who have received no vaccine doses by 2030 compared to 2019 levels.
Just 18 countries have achieved this so far, according to the study, which was funded by the Gates Foundation and the Gavi vaccine alliance.
The global health community has also been reeling since President Donald Trump's administration drastically slashed US international aid earlier this year.
'For the first time in decades, the number of kids dying around the world will likely go up this year instead of down because of massive cuts to foreign aid,' Bill Gates said in a separate statement on Tuesday.
'That is a tragedy,' the Microsoft co-founder said, committing $1.6 billion to Gavi, which is holding a fund-raising summit in Brussels on Wednesday.
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Arab News
6 hours ago
- Arab News
Children in Pakistan among millions under threat as vaccine coverage faltering — study
PARIS: Efforts to vaccinate children against deadly diseases are faltering across the world due to economic inequality, Covid-era disruptions and misinformation, putting millions of lives at risk, research warned Wednesday. These trends all increase the threat of future outbreaks of preventable diseases, the researchers said, while sweeping foreign aid cuts threaten previous progress in vaccinating the world's children. A new study published in The Lancet journal looked at childhood vaccination rates across 204 countries and territories. It was not all bad news. An immunization program by the World Health Organization was estimated to have saved an estimated 154 million lives over the last 50 years. And vaccination coverage against diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, polio and tuberculosis doubled between 1980 and 2023, the international team of researchers found. However the gains slowed in the 2010s, when measles vaccinations decreased in around half of the countries, with the largest drop in Latin America. Meanwhile in more than half of all high-income countries there were declines in coverage for at least one vaccine dose. Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Routine vaccination services were hugely disrupted during lockdowns and other measures, resulting in nearly 13 million extra children who never received any vaccine dose between 2020 to 2023, the study said. This disparity endured, particularly in poorer countries. In 2023, more than half of the world's 15.7 million completely unvaccinated children lived in just eight countries, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the study. In the European Union, 10 times more measles cases were recorded last year compared to 2023. In the United States, a measles outbreak surged past 1,000 cases across 30 states last month, which is already more than were recorded in all of 2024. Cases of polio, long eradicated in many areas thanks to vaccination, have been rising in Pakistan and Afghanistan, while Papua New Guinea is currently enduring a polio outbreak. 'Routine childhood vaccinations are among the most powerful and cost-effective public health interventions available,' said senior study author Jonathan Mosser of the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). 'But persistent global inequalities, challenges from the COVID pandemic, and the growth of vaccine misinformation and hesitancy have all contributed to faltering immunization progress,' he said in a statement. In addition, there are 'rising numbers of displaced people and growing disparities due to armed conflict, political volatility, economic uncertainty, climate crises,' added lead study author Emily Haeuser, also from the IHME. The researchers warned the setbacks could threaten the WHO's goal of having 90 percent of the world's children and adolescents receive essential vaccines by 2030. The WHO also aims to halve the number of children who have received no vaccine doses by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. Just 18 countries have achieved this so far, according to the study, which was funded by the Gates Foundation and the Gavi vaccine alliance. The global health community has also been reeling since President Donald Trump's administration drastically slashed US international aid earlier this year. 'For the first time in decades, the number of kids dying around the world will likely go up this year instead of down because of massive cuts to foreign aid,' Bill Gates said in a separate statement on Tuesday. 'That is a tragedy,' the Microsoft co-founder said, committing $1.6 billion to Gavi, which is holding a fund-raising summit in Brussels on Wednesday.
Al Arabiya
11 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Global vaccination efforts stall, leaving millions of children vulnerable to preventable diseases
Efforts to vaccinate children globally have stalled since 2010, leaving millions vulnerable to tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, and other diseases that can be easily prevented. Protection from measles, in particular, dropped in 100 countries between 2010 and 2019, unraveling decades of progress, including in rich countries that had previously eliminated the highly infectious disease, according to a new analysis of global vaccination trends published Tuesday in the journal Lancet. 'After clean water, vaccination is the most effective intervention for protecting the health of our children,' said Helen Bedford, a professor of children's health at University College London, who was not connected to the research. She warned there has been a small but worrying rise in the number of parents skipping vaccination for their children in recent years for reasons including misinformation. In Britain, Bedford said that has resulted in the largest number of measles cases recorded since the 1990s and the deaths of nearly a dozen babies from whooping cough. Vaccination rates in the US are also falling, and exemptions from vaccinations are at an all-time high. After the World Health Organization established its routine immunization program in 1974, countries made significant efforts to protect children against preventable and sometimes fatal diseases; the program is credited with inoculating more than 4 billion children, saving the lives of 154 million worldwide. Since the program began, the global coverage of children receiving three doses of the diphtheria–tetanus–whooping cough vaccine nearly doubled from 40 percent to 81 percent. The percentage of kids getting the measles vaccine also jumped from 37 percent to 83 percent, with similar increases for polio and tuberculosis. But after the COVID-19 pandemic, coverage rates dropped, with an estimated 15.6 million children missing out on the diphtheria–tetanus–whooping cough vaccine and the measles vaccine. Nearly 16 million children failed to get vaccinated against polio, and 9 million missed out on the TB vaccine, with the biggest impact in sub-Saharan Africa. The study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance. Researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, who conducted the analysis, noted that more than half of the world's 15.7 million unvaccinated children live in just eight countries in 2023: Nigeria, India, Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Indonesia, and Brazil. Since former President Trump began to withdraw the US from the WHO and dismantled the US Agency for International Development, public health experts have warned of new epidemics of infectious diseases. The researchers said it was too early to know what impact recent funding cuts might have on children's immunization rates. The WHO said there had been an eleven-fold spike in measles in the Americas this year compared to 2024. Measles infections doubled in the European region in 2024 versus the previous year, and the disease remains common in Africa and Southeast Asia. 'It is in everyone's interest that this situation is rectified,' said Dr. David Elliman, a pediatrician who has advised the British government, in a statement. 'While vaccine-preventable infectious diseases occur anywhere in the world, we are all at risk.'
Arab News
14 hours ago
- Arab News
A fragmenting world can unite around immunization
We live in a world that seems increasingly fractured and prone to conflict. But experience in both the public and private sectors has taught me that periods of geopolitical unrest are precisely the moments when we should take a step back and consider what unites us. The ties that bind people together across borders, generations, and cultures must be celebrated and strengthened. Many of our differences and disagreements melt away when we recognize the simple truth that everyone wants the next generation to grow and thrive in a world that is safer, fairer, and more prosperous than the one they entered. The question is how to translate this universal instinct into concrete collective action. One answer that almost everyone can agree on is protecting children and communities through immunization. To show their commitment to this important cause, heads of state and government will convene in Brussels on June 25 for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance's Global Summit: Health & Prosperity through Immunization. With their pledges of support, Gavi — where I have chaired the board for the past five years — can continue preventing the spread of deadly and debilitating infectious diseases, especially among the most vulnerable segments of society. Increased uptake of vaccines has already transformed the world for the better. When Gavi was established a quarter-century ago, millions of children died annually from diseases such as measles and pneumonia. These deaths represented an unconscionable tragedy because they could have been prevented easily. Gavi was founded to put a stop to this needless suffering. Gavi's public-private model is unique among global health organizations. By bringing together vaccine manufacturers, national governments, donors, and grassroots organizations, Gavi has vaccinated more than 1 billion children in low- and middle-income countries since its inception, preventing nearly 19 million deaths and helping to halve childhood mortality. Moreover, the organization has built effective global defenses against pandemics and other infectious threats by creating and maintaining emergency vaccine stockpiles. Investing in Gavi's immunization efforts has produced remarkable returns. Since 2000, the organization's work has generated $250 billion in broader economic benefits in the low- and middle-income countries where it operates, helping 19 of them to outgrow the need for vaccine support. Recognizing the vital role that immunization plays in enhancing public health and resiliency, several of these 'Gavi graduates' are now donors themselves. We should take a step back and consider what unites us. Jose Manuel Barroso This week's global summit will determine the future of Gavi's immunization efforts. As the organization approaches its next five-year strategic period — possibly the most consequential in its history — we are calling for renewed financial and political commitments to protect the next generation. Our goal over the next five years is to vaccinate 500 million children in the world's poorest countries against 19 diseases. For the first time in history, we have a vaccine that can turn the tide against malaria. We can also protect millions of girls against cervical cancer with the HPV vaccine, maintain progress against preventable killers such as measles and typhoid, and provide children in conflict-riven and displaced communities with basic vaccinations. But none of this can be achieved without the financial backing of donor countries and partners. Of course, most donors are juggling competing budget priorities, particularly as policymakers, confronting geopolitical uncertainty and deepening polarization between countries, push for higher defense spending. But, as the global pandemic illustrated, ensuring our citizens' safety cannot be achieved through military might alone. Resilience requires investment in health security. Moreover, because immunization is a global public good, efforts to provide it can create fertile ground for further cooperation. Even amid all of life's economic, political, and scientific complexities, sometimes the choices we face are simple. There is no future without children. Improving access to vaccines is perhaps the single most effective and scalable tool at our disposal to stem the spread of preventable diseases that threaten too many young people and cause unnecessary deaths. Regardless of our differences and disagreements, I am confident that the world can find common purpose when it comes to immunization, and that, working together, we can begin to create the conditions for a better and more hopeful future. • Jose Manuel Barroso, a former president of the European Commission and prime minister of Portugal, is chair of the board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. ©Project Syndicate
