Africa lags behind in child vaccination

A total of 12.7 million children in Africa were under-vaccinated between 2019 and 2021, which includes 8.7 million who did not receive a single dose of vaccination due to COVID-19 and other logistical reasons, and more efforts are required to bridge the immunization gap to prevent disease outbreaks, according to the United Nations Children's Fund.

According to "State of the World's Children 2023", a report released by the organization last week, Nigeria and Ethiopia have the largest number of children with zero doses in Africa, at 2.2 million and 1.1 million respectively. South Africa has 104,000 zero-dose children. Among the top 20 countries with unvaccinated children, half of them are from Africa.

Sufang Guo, chief of health and nutrition, UNICEF South Africa, said that lockdowns and travel restrictions put in place to combat COVID-19 prevented people from taking their children to the health centers for vaccination.

She said there were no vaccines in some countries due to poor planning and logistical reasons. In other places, there was a shortage of staff for vaccinating the children, which affected the immunization program, Guo said.

"There has been some vaccine hesitancy from some people due to religious or cultural reasons. In some cases, the long distance — particularly in rural areas — to reach the vaccination centers has discouraged people from taking their children for vaccination. We encourage countries to strengthen their primary healthcare systems through allocation of adequate funds," said Guo.

Multiple outbreaks

Celestin Traore, a senior immunization specialist, western and central African region for UNICEF, said that last year, 34 out of the 54 African countries experienced outbreaks, including measles, cholera and poliovirus. He said there was an outbreak of 129 diseases, including Ebola, yellow fever and meningitis in Africa and resources were directed at combating them, which hampered the immunization program.

He urged countries to focus on rural areas, slums and refugees when holding vaccination campaigns. UNICEF South Africa representative Christine Muhigana said vaccination saves lives and is a way to prevent illness, disability and deaths, as well as eradicate diseases. She said smallpox was eradicated through immunization, while tremendous progress has been made to tackle polio.

She said the backsliding on vaccination has reversed the progress made so far.

Paul Ngwakum, regional health adviser, UNICEF's eastern and southern Africa, said the African heads of state had pledged to allocate 15 percent of their budget for healthcare but have not delivered on their promise.

He warned that if African countries do not address the immunization deficiency, many will not be able to meet the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

Lesley Bamford, specialist at National Department of Health in South Africa, said what is contained in the report is a reality. She said vaccination in South Africa is free and given to those who are not documented and added that 80 to 85 percent of children receive full vaccination.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.