Brazil exits bottom 20 countries with low child vaccinations
Brazil has made strides with the vaccination of children.
This has earned the country an exit from the ranking of the 20 nations with the most unvaccinated children globally.
This was contained in a global study released by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO) on July 15.
According to the report, there was a significant reduction in the number of children who have not received any doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP1) in 2023 in Brazil. The number reduced from 710,000 in 2021 to 103,000 in 2023.
Similarly, the numbers for DTP3 reduced within the same period from 846,000 to 257,000.
Agencia Brasil reports that Brazil moved from its 7th-rank position among countries with the most unimmunised and unvaccinated children after showing steady progress in 14 of the 16 immunisations surveyed.
Head of Health in UNICEF Brazil, Luciani Phebo highlighted the country’s win after years of low coverage of child immunisation performance but urged that more should be done.
“It is essential to continue moving even faster to find and immunize every girl and boy who has not yet received the vaccines. Efforts must go beyond the walls of basic health units, and reach other spaces where children and families are, including schools, assistance centres, and other public spaces and facilities,” she was quoted.
The UNICEF and WHO have reported a stall in global childhood immunisation coverage in 2023, leaving 2.7 million additional children un- and under-vaccinated compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
According to the findings, the number of children who received three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP) in 2023 - a key marker for global immunization coverage - stalled at 84 per cent (108 million). However, the number of children who did not receive a single dose of the vaccine increased from 13.9 million in 2022 to 14.5 million in 2023.
More than half of unvaccinated children live in the 31 countries with fragile, conflict-affected, and vulnerable settings, where children are especially vulnerable to preventable diseases because of disruptions and lack of access to security, nutrition, and health services.
Additionally, 6.5 million children did not complete their third dose of the DTP vaccine, which is necessary to achieve disease protection in infancy and early childhood.
