Latest news with #IA2030
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Health
- Express Tribune
Zero-dose children
Listen to article In the last five decades, vaccinations have granted life to an estimated 154 million children around the world. A study, published in prestigious British medical journal The Lancet, while touting this marvellous feat of modern medicine, is flashing red lights at declining global progress regarding vaccinations in more recent decades. The distressing warning comes merely a few years after the Covid-19 pandemic, which reportedly amplified vaccine coverage inequities and stagnating development. And in this global crisis, Pakistan unfortunately holds the position of having South Asia's second highest number of zero-dose children. These 'zero-dose' children – those who have not received any vaccinations – are left defenceless against the risk of fatal, yet preventable, diseases. About 419,000 children did not receive routine vaccinations in 2023, turning diseases like measles, tuberculosis and polio more dangerous than ever. For decades, Pakistan has failed to eliminate wild-type polio, which only persists in two countries around the world. Now, with its second highest ranking in South Asia of zero-dose children, the healthcare climate for the region's youngest and most vulnerable is rapidly becoming one of the worst in the world. Reaching the WHO's goal of improving vaccine coverage globally through the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030), as per The Lancet study, necessitates "accelerated progress". But in a country where the federal budget prioritises security spending and bureaucratic salary raises, and much of the dedicated healthcare budget slips through the cracks of corruption, any progress seems to be a welcome contribution. Moreover, misinformation regarding vaccines is so rampant in Pakistani society that the culture often becomes its own worst enemy. This recent ranking demands all caretakers of our nation's children to jolt themselves awake and face the sordid reality of their inaction – before the toll falls solely on those least to blame.
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Health
- Express Tribune
Unvaccinated children in Pakistan rising
Pakistan has become the second largest country with the highest number of children with zero doses of vaccines in South Asia after India, a media report said, quoting a new study by British medical journal Lancet. The study found that Pakistan had 419,000 children falling into that zero-vaccine category. Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio still remains endemic, despite global efforts to eradicate the virus. The Lancet said in a press release that a major new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study Vaccine Coverage Collaborators, said that despite progress of past 50 years, the last two decades have also been marked by stagnating childhood vaccination rates and wide variation in vaccine coverage. In 2019, it said, the WHO set ambitious goals for improving vaccine coverage globally through the Immunisation Agenda 2030. However, it added, the challenges exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving millions of children vulnerable to preventable diseases and death. The authors of the study, "Global, regional, and national trends in routine childhood vaccination coverage from 1980 to 2023 with forecasts to 2030", said that the latest estimates should be taken as a "clear warning" that 2030 target would not be achieved without "transformational improvements". The IA2030 goals included halving the number of 'zero-dose' children — estimated as children aged under 1 who have not received any dose of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine. The programme also aimed to achieve global coverage of 90% for each of the life-course vaccines.
