WHO asks Southeast Asian countries to accelerate action to protect children with life-saving vaccine

NEW DELHI: Nearly 2.7 million children in the Southeast Asia Region did not get any vaccine, and another 0.6 million children were partially vaccinated in 2023, the World Health Organisation said in the 15th Meeting of the WHO South-East Asia Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group.

This comes in as WHO called on countries in the region to accelerate action to protect all children with life-saving vaccines being offered under the childhood immunisation programme, focusing on those who have missed all or some vaccine doses, and protecting all adolescent girls from cervical cancer.

“We need to understand where and why these children were missed and prioritise reaching them as soon as possible. No child should ever fall sick or die of any vaccine-preventable disease when safe and effective vaccines exist to protect them,” said Saima Wazed, Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia.

She said the region, which has 11 countries, including India, also missed the target to eliminate measles and rubella by 2023.

Wazed pointed out that the WHO/UNICEF Estimates of National Immunization Coverage data released last month show slow progress and no meaningful change in childhood immunisation coverage in the previous year compared to 2022, and coverage is yet to be restored to the pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

“We should aim for a ‘big catch-up’ to vaccinate all zero dose and partially vaccinated children, and restore immunisation progress lost during the pandemic and accelerate efforts to eliminate Measles and Rubella from WHO South-East Asia by 2026,” she said in her inaugural address to the 15th Meeting of the WHO South-East Asia Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group (SEAR-ITAG) being held here.

“We can proudly say, in the last 50 years, together, immunisation programmes have helped hundreds of millions of people in our region live healthier, longer, more productive, and prosperous lives,” she added.

The region continues to be free of wild poliovirus transmission and has maintained the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus as a public health problem.

Five countries have eliminated measles and rubella, and six have controlled hepatitis B through immunisation. Seven countries consistently reach over 90 per cent of children with three doses of diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DTP3) vaccines.

The stagnation in post-pandemic recovery highlights the need to innovate. “We need to find locally impactful approaches, and most critically, enhance the political and social leadership that are the basis for intensified actions needed to meet our targets,” she said.