By Juliet Jacob
The World Health Organisation, WHO, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are partnering to reverse vaccination decline among children.
The organisations are joining forces to call ”The Big Catch” which aims to reverse the decline in childhood vaccination recorded in various countries since the pandemic, due to overburdened health services, closed clinics, and disrupted imports and exports of vials, syringes and other medical supplies.
“The partnership involves the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other global partners. The outbreak of preventable diseases like measles, diphtheria, polio and yellow fever are already becoming more prevalent and severe.
The Partners are working to ensure progress on childhood immunizations with countries to strengthen health care workforces, improve health service delivery, build trust and demand for vaccines within communities, and address gaps and obstacles to restoring immunization.
WHO called on governments in countries to play an important role in helping to catch up by reaching the children who missed out. Countries included are Afghanistan, Angola, Brazil, Cameroon, Chad, DPRK, DRC, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines,Somalia,Madagascar,Mexico,Mozambique,Myanmar,Tanzania,Vietnam.
WHO Director-Tedros Ghebreyesus stated that catching up is a top priority as no child should die of a vaccine-preventable disease, millions of children and adolescents, particularly in lower-income countries, have missed out on life-saving vaccinations, while outbreaks of these deadly diseases have risen.
WHO is supporting dozens of countries to restore immunization and other essential health services provided to curbing this.
