The Morning – Nine out of ten infants in the world received vaccinations in 2017

Nearly 123 million infants worldwide, or 9 out of 10, received at least one dose of diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough vaccine in 2017, protecting them from infectious diseases that can cause serious illness or deaths, according to the latest immunization data from Unicef ​​and the World Health Organization (WHO). Since 2015, the percentage of children who received the three doses of routine immunization against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) reached 85% (116.2 million infants), said the WHO in a statement Press. Although global immunization coverage with DTP3 remains at 85%, it is important to note that 4.6 million more infants were vaccinated worldwide in 2017 compared to 2010, due to global population growth. Similarly, it is important to note that although DTP3 coverage in the African region remains at 72% since 2010, the growth of the regional target population meant that to maintain the same level of coverage, approximately 3.2 million infants More than 20 million need to be vaccinated in 2017. Of the 19.9 million infants who are not fully immunized with DTP3, nearly 8 million (40%) live in fragile or humanitarian settings, including in conflict-affected countries. And about 5.6 million of them live in just three countries – Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan – where access to routine immunization services is critical to achieving and sustaining polio eradication. In 2017, 10 countries had DTP3 or measles vaccine coverage of less than 50%: Angola, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Guinea, Somalia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Syria and Ukraine. Both UN agencies believe that as the population grows, more countries need to increase their investment in immunization programs. In order to achieve universal immunization coverage, it is estimated that an additional 20 million children need to be immunized with DTP3; An additional 45 million children need to be vaccinated with a second dose of measles vaccine and an additional 76 million children need to be vaccinated with 3 doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.