The World Health Organisation (WHO), along with its partner organizations, recently revealed that nearly 80 million children below the age of 1 are at an increased risk of falling ill to fatal but vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, polio, and diphtheria. This alarming situation has arisen due to postponed vaccination drives amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gearing Up for the Global Vaccine Summit
The report was released prior to the Global Vaccine Summit scheduled on June 4th. The summit aims to bring global leaders together to support immunization programs and reduce the pandemic’s impact in lower-income nations. The summit will also provide a platform for the international community to promise their backing for Gavi’s five-year plan (2021-2025) aimed at immunizing 300 million children, thus saving up to 8 million lives. The partner organizations include the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Sabin Vaccine Institute (Washington, USA), and Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (Gavi).
Key Points and Data
The report suggests that more than half (53%) of the 129 studied countries have reported moderate-to-severe disruptions or complete suspension of vaccination services during March-April 2020. The reasons for this disruption range from fear of violating social distancing needs to prevent Covid-19 spread, diversion of health workers to handle the pandemic response, to significant delays in planned vaccine deliveries due to lockdown measures and reduced flight availability.
Vaccination: The Need of the Hour
Disruptions to immunization programs pose a threat to the progress achieved over decades against vaccine-preventable diseases. Experts declare that children require routine immunizations before they turn 2. Vaccination involves introducing weakened or killed forms of diseases into the body through a vaccine, helping the body build an adaptive immune system to fight off potential infections.
The Way Forward
The current health crisis underlines the urgent need to focus on the Global Vaccine Action Plan 2011-2020, aimed at preventing millions of deaths by 2020 through equitable vaccine access. Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3, which emphasizes Good Health and Well-being, also needs to be prioritized. Immediate action should be taken to restart vaccination programs with advanced health infrastructure and medical equipment. Countries should also advocate individual-level efforts; for instance, India could hasten its vaccination drives under its Mission Indradhanush campaign.