Millions of children at risk as global vaccine rates fall, study finds

Global efforts to vaccinate children against deadly diseases are faltering due to economic inequality, disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and widespread misinformation, putting millions of lives at risk, a new study warned on June 25.

Researchers highlighted that these challenges increase the likelihood of future outbreaks of preventable illnesses, while significant cuts in foreign aid threaten to undo years of progress in childhood immunization.

Published in The Lancet, the study examined vaccination rates among children across 204 countries and territories.

Despite setbacks, there was some positive news: a World Health Organization (WHO) immunization program is estimated to have saved approximately 154 million lives over the past five decades.

Between 1980 and 2023, vaccination coverage against diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, polio, and tuberculosis doubled, the international research team reported.

However, progress slowed during the 2010s, with measles vaccinations declining in about half of the countries studied, particularly in Latin America.

The situation worsened with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely disrupted routine vaccination services during lockdowns and other restrictions. This resulted in nearly 13 million additional children missing all vaccine doses from 2020 to 2023.

This gap persisted, especially in poorer nations. In 2023, over half of the world’s 15.7 million completely unvaccinated children lived in just eight countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Meanwhile, the European Union recorded ten times more measles cases last year compared to 2023.

Polio cases, once nearly eradicated through vaccination, have been increasing in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Papua New Guinea is currently experiencing a polio outbreak.

“Routine childhood vaccinations remain one of the most powerful and cost-effective public health interventions available,” said Jonathan Mosser, senior author of the study and researcher at the U.S.-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).