Blog 11: Routine Vaccination Attempting To Reach 22 Million Children

A study published by the World Health Organization reports that as of 2011, 4 out of 5 children are receiving life saving DTP vaccinations. The data shows significant progress from the time WHO’s vaccine organization was established almost 40 years ago. When the organization first opened, only about 5% of children were receiving the vaccine before the age of 1; today, close to 83% are receiving the vaccine. While they note that this is good news, this does not eliminate the fact that 22 million children still remain in that 1 out of 5 that are not vaccinated. These children are coming from underdeveloped nations so the need for up to date immunization is necessary. Their global action plan to help bring this number down consists of 4 steps: strengthen routine immunization to meet vaccination coverage targets, accelerate control of vaccine preventable diseases, introduce better vaccines, and spur research and development for the next set of future vaccines.

            It is imperative to get out as many vaccines to as many children as possible to prevent the spread of these diseases. The 22 million who remain unvaccinated are coming from underdeveloped nations and this increases their vulnerability ten-fold. In these developing countries, sanitation is not up to par and it becomes easier to introduce several types of dangerous bacteria into the environment. Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis are very severe in young children and will lead to death without treatment. The medical treatment options available for many of these countries are not enough to sufficiently treat the infected person which is why prevention is the safest method. WHO’s action plan also shows how dedicated they are to eradicating these diseases from as many places as possible. It goes beyond just vaccination. They want to continue to learn more about these diseases through research so they can create even more powerful vaccinations. They hope to complete their global action plan by 2020. This plan will save millions of children and bring overall mortality rates down for generations to come.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2012/vaccination_20121101/en/index.html