(CNN) — The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for Children warned this Wednesday of the increased risk of the spread of measles, as cases worldwide have increased by almost 80%. % so far in 2022 compared to 2021.
“In January and February 2022, almost 17,338 cases of measles were recorded worldwide, compared to 9,665 in the first two months of 2021,” the organizations said in a press release, noting that there were 21 outbreaks. “large and disturbing”, many of them in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.
“Pandemic-related disruptions, widening inequalities in access to vaccines, and the diversion of resources from routine immunization are leaving too many children unprotected against measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases,” the organizations said. . They added that as cities and countries relax restrictions from the covid-19 pandemic, measles outbreaks are more likely.
“It’s encouraging that people in many communities are beginning to feel protected enough from Covid-19 to return to more social activities. But doing so in places where children aren’t getting routine vaccinations creates the perfect storm for the spread of COVID-19.” a disease like measles,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in the statement.
Twenty-three million children were not vaccinated in 2020, according to the organizations. Childhood vaccination campaigns have recently been hampered by the covid-19 pandemic and conflicts in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Somalia and Afghanistan.
As of April 1, “57 vaccination-preventable disease campaigns in 43 countries that were scheduled since the start of the pandemic remain postponed, affecting 203 million people, most of whom are children,” the organizations said. . “Of these, 19 are campaigns against measles, which puts 73 million children at risk of contracting it due to lack of vaccination.”
According to the WHO and Unicef, “a coverage equal to or greater than 95% with two doses of the safe and effective vaccine against measles can protect against this disease.” In the five countries with the most cases in the last year, coverage of the first dose was less than 70% in 2020.
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