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They are diseases that, in many parts of the world, have been reduced to a bad memory. However, the interruption of vaccination campaigns once again puts entire continents at risk. In Africa, polio has become a threat again and Latin America has regressed to vaccination levels of 1994, when entire communities suffered from measles or diphtheria. The consequences of these delays could be felt for decades.
It’s been decades since the last time a child was left paralyzed by the poliovirus in Latin America. The entire region was declared free of this disease almost 30 years ago, in 1994, thanks to enormous vaccination efforts by the population, authorities and experts. It is one of the examples of the long love story between the American continent and vaccines: in 1971 it eradicated smallpox, in 2017 neonatal tetanus and in 2016 it was the first region in the world without measles.
This story is now at risk. After two years of pandemic, the campaigns of the other vaccines that are not against Covid-19 have been set aside by a health emergency that has required all the attention of the medical systems and governments. Also from people, who stopped going to health centers for fear of getting infected or who, in turn, have become infected with skepticism against Covid-19 vaccines.
The risk is high. The World Health Organization (WHO) and all its regional branches took advantage of this week, Global Immunization Week, to remind the population, administrations and the media that the world is losing the fight against preventable diseases.
The goal: 95% immunization
The WHO considers that, to avoid disease resurgences, 95% of the population must be vaccinated. The American continent falls short of this goal: protection against polio barely exceeds 82%, that against measles reaches 87%, and the number of people immunized against diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough with the triple virus vaccine is 76%.
“The last two years have taken us back three decades in vaccination against measles and polio and have left us at risk of reintroduction. Today we are back to the same levels of vaccination reported in 1994, when these diseases were still a serious risk to children, families, and communities,” PAHO Director Carissa Étienne recalled at a press conference on April 25.
Furthermore, Étienne warned that the consequences will not only be short-term: “If this situation persists, we will pay an extremely high price in loss of life, in more disabilities and in economic costs.”
Currently, according to figures from the organization, one in four children in Latin America and the Caribbean do not have the complete schedule of basic vaccines to prevent this type of disease.
Africa is experiencing alarming outbreaks
The short-term consequences are already being suffered by the African continent. Measles cases registered during the first months of 2022 multiplied by four compared to the previous year. In addition, more and more countries are registering outbreaks of polio and yellow fever: there are already 21 and 13, respectively.
Although none of these outbreaks have reached devastating levels, they are symptoms of what happens when vaccination campaigns against these diseases are interrupted. At the same time, they are also reminders of what happens in countries where armed conflicts are the norm, as in Yemen, or where poverty feeds on the population, as in Somalia, two of the countries with the most cases of measles.
In addition, Africa is the continent where the most “zero dose children” live, a term that refers to children who have not been vaccinated against any disease. “Children with zero doses are at a much higher risk of mortality, but it is also important to find them because they are a red flag in a community or in a family,” Helen Rees, of the WHO Immunization Group, said on April 28. Africa.
“These are families that are likely to be more vulnerable in terms of poverty, food security, access to contraceptives,” he recalled.
“Vulnerabilities are multifactorial and we need to not only combat disease outbreaks but also ask why there is so little vaccination in that area and who is most vulnerable,” Rees said.
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