The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to measles and polio immunization campaigns, thereby putting millions of vulnerable children at risk for life-threatening diseases, UN agencies said Friday.
The UN launched an urgent call for funding to ward off epidemics, saying $ 655 million was needed to fill “dangerous immune gaps” in poor and middle-income countries.
“We cannot allow the fight against a deadly disease to cause us to lose ground in the fight against other diseases,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement.
According to Fore, the $ 655 million needed includes $ 400 million for polio and $ 255 million for measles.
Vaccine coverage gaps were further exacerbated by COVID-19 in 2020, and WHO said the measles death rate data for 2019, which is expected to be released next week, “will show the continuing negative toll. prolonged epidemics are having “.