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In the world, nearly 20 million children are not vaccinated every year, which puts them at risk of preventable fatal diseases. This is explained by multiple factors, including social, economic and health inequalities and weak health systems. Most of these children are concentrated in conflict-affected communities, remote areas cut off from everything or even makeshift housing with no access to basic needs.
The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the situation with a devastating impact on health services in particular, those related to vaccination. A drastic drop in the number of children receiving vaccines, in some cases up to 50%, it could be observed. Millions of vulnerable children are now at greater risk for preventable diseases.
An alarming situation
In recent years we have seen a real resurgence of measles in all parts of the world. Year 2019 has the largest number of new cases for over two decades. The number of deaths due to measles has risen nearly 50% since 2016, with 207,500 deaths estimated for 2019 alone. Most of these the deaths concern children under 5.
In many countries, measles vaccination campaigns have been suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 94 million children in 26 countries they are threatened with being deprived of measles vaccination. Without urgent actions to relaunch vaccination campaigns measles cases and deaths could increase further in 2021.
Re-launch vaccination campaigns to save lives
UNICEF is committed to supporting the health and immunization services needed by the most affected countries. We are working tirelessly to ensure that countries have an adequate supply of vaccines. Being the largest buyer of vaccines in the world, we work closely with suppliers around the world to ensure that those who need it most are supplied. In 2019, UNICEF has purchased and delivered more than 346 million doses of measles vaccine in 84 countries.
During this pandemic, we are also providing more support to countries to enable them to protect their vaccination campaigns. For example, with the support of UNICEF, as part of a national campaign, The Ethiopian government successfully immunized 14 million children against measles in June 2020. TO Nepal, vaccination campaigns against the measles epidemic have been successfully conducted in 42 districts, affects more than one million children between May and July 2020. Measles-related deaths can be prevented with vaccination. Today we have the knowledge and resources to fight preventable diseases like measles, but we need your support to carry out our actions.
Donate to UNICEF to fight measles.
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