Korede Abdullah in Lagos
More than 14 million children worldwide did not receive a single vaccine dose last year, the same alarming figure as in 2023, according to new data released on Tuesday (today) by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.
“Drastic cuts in aid, coupled with misinformation about the safety of vaccines, threaten to unwind decades of progress,” warned WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Nine countries, including Nigeria, India, Sudan, Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Angola, accounted for over half of these unprotected children.
Officials say the global immunization effort faces fresh setbacks following the collapse of major international aid. In January, US President Trump withdrew the country from the WHO, froze humanitarian aid, and later moved to shut down the US AID Agency.
Last month, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, announced that the US would also withdraw billions previously pledged to the vaccines alliance Gavi, claiming the group had “ignored the science.”
While global coverage for measles vaccination rose slightly to 76%, WHO experts stressed that a 95% coverage rate is needed to prevent outbreaks.
“It is hugely concerning, but not at all surprising, that we are continuing to see outbreaks of measles,” said Helen Bradford, a professor of children’s health at University College London.
The US is battling its worst measles outbreak in over 30 years, and Europe reported 125,000 cases in 2024 — double the previous year — underscoring the risk when vaccination stalls.
