UNICEF India on Thursday released the agencys global flagship report The State of the Worlds Children 2023: For Every Child, Vaccination, which has highlighted the significance of childhood immunisation. The information was shared by a representative of UNICEF India, Cynthia McCaffrey.For the rise in statistics, UNICEF representative McCaffrey appreciated the Government of Indias political and social commitment and demonstrate that #largestvaccinedrive during the Covid-19 pandemic has paid off in building confidence and strengthening the routine immunisation to vaccinate every child.UNICEF releases the latest State of the Worlds Children Report.Learn where #India stands and the progress it has made on Immunization.— UNICEF India (@UNICEFIndia) April 20, 2023According to the new UNICEF report based on data from The Vaccine Confidence Project (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), only three of the 55 countries studied – China, India, and Mexico, saw improvements in public perception of the value of childhood vaccinations.Over a third of the investigated nations, the Republic of Korea, Papua New Guinea, Ghana, Senegal, and Japan have shown a fall in vaccination trust since the start of the avian flu epidemic. The report issues a warning about the rising danger of vaccination hesitancy as a result of things like easy access to false information and declining faith in vaccine efficacy.The UNICEF reports also says that the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the biggest continuous decrease in kid vaccination in 30 years, and this decline in vaccine trust is occurring around the globe. The pandemic disrupted childrens immunisation practically everywhere, particularly as a result of high demands on health services, a switch of resources from immunisation to the COVID-19 vaccine, a shortage of health workers, and stay-at-home precautions.McCaffrey also added that “One of humanitys most amazing success stories is immunisation, which enables the child to live healthy life and contribute to society. Immunisation of every child is a crucial aspect of fairness that benefits not only the child but also the entire community. We may best protect ourselves by avoiding future pandemics and lowering morbidity and death with routine vaccines and robust health systems.”The UNICEF report also informs and warns that a total of 67 million children have missed out on vaccination between 2019 and 2021. The decrease in vaccine coverage can be seen in over 112 countries. The report also shares that a decrease in the number of vaccines for measles and polio is also seen. The number of measles cases in 2022 was more than double the total in the previous year. Similarly, the number of children paralysed by polio was up by 16 percent in 2022. There was an eight-fold rise in the number of children paralysed by polio between 2019 and 2021 compared to the prior three years, underscoring the need of maintaining immunization efforts.According to new data gathered for the research by the International Centre for Equity in Health, one in five children in the poorest homes had zero doses, compared to one in twenty in the richest. It was discovered that unvaccinated kids frequently reside in isolated areas or urban slums. They frequently have mothers who were unable to complete their education and who have limited authority over household matters. The majority of these problems are seen in low- and middle-income nations, where 1 in 10 urban children and 1 in 6 rural children are zero-dose recipients. There is hardly any difference between youngsters in urban and rural areas in upper-middle-income nations.The report also emphasised that India successfully ensured a continued focus on Covid-19 vaccination, achieving unprecedented immunisation of its population with over 200 crore doses administered in a short period.Apart from this, to reach the missed-out 5th child, India has prioritised investment in Primary Health Centres under the Ayushman Bharat project.
