Measles, a growing threat to children’s lives

Measles, a growing threat to children’s lives

In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, urgent measures are needed to protect the most vulnerable children from life-threatening and disabling diseases, UNICEF announced in a statement made public.

Nearly 20 million children around the world are not vaccinated every year, putting them at risk of preventable life-threatening diseases. According to UNICEF, this can be explained by multiple factors, including social, economic and health inequalities and weak health systems.

The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the situation with a devastating impact on health services in particular, those related to vaccination. A dramatic drop in the number of children receiving vaccines has been observed, up to 50% in some cases. Millions of vulnerable children are now at greater risk for preventable diseases.

“In recent years, we have seen a real resurgence of measles in all regions of the world. 2019 saw the largest number of new cases in over two decades. The number of deaths due to measles has increased by nearly 50% since 2016, with 207,500 deaths estimated for 2019 alone. Most of these deaths involve children under 5, “UNICEF adds in its statement.

In many countries, measles vaccination campaigns have been suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 94 million children in 26 countries risk losing their measles vaccination. Without urgent action to restart vaccination campaigns, measles cases and deaths could increase further in 2021, says UNICEF, which says it is determined to support the health and immunization services needed by the most affected countries.