More than 14 million children missed a single vaccine last year, with nine countries making up over half of those unprotected. The World Health Organization and UNICEF reported that about 89% of children under one received their first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough vaccine in 2024. Cuts in international aid are expected to exacerbate the situation. Access to vaccines remains uneven, with humanitarian crises impacting immunization efforts. Conflict-affected regions, particularly Sudan, reported the lowest coverage.
"Drastic cuts in aid, coupled with misinformation about the safety of vaccines, threaten to unwind decades of progress," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
U.N. experts said that access to vaccines remained 'deeply unequal' and that conflict and humanitarian crises quickly unraveled progress.
Vaccines prevent 3.5 million to 5 million deaths a year, according to U.N. estimates.
Nine countries accounted for 52% of all children who missed out on immunizations entirely: Nigeria, India, Sudan, Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Angola.
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