UN agencies: Aid cuts threaten fragile progress in child vaccination
In 2024, 85 per cent of infants globally, or 109 million, had received three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP), with the third dose serving as a key marker for global immunisation coverage, according to data published by the UN health and children's agencies.
That marked an increase of one percentage point and a million more children covered than a year earlier, in what the agencies described as "modest" gains.
At the same time, nearly 20 million infants missed at least one of their DTP doses last year, including 14.3 million so-called "zero-dose" children who never received a single shot.
While a slight improvement over 2023, when the United Nations said there were 14.5 million zero-dose children, it was 1.4 million more than in 2019 — before the Covid pandemic wreaked havoc on global vaccination programmes.
"The good news is that we have managed to reach more children with life-saving vaccines," Unicef chief Catherine Russell said in a joint statement.
"But millions of children remain without protection against preventable diseases.
"That should worry us all."
The World Health Organisation, meanwhile, warned that the planet was "off track" for reaching its goal of ensuring that 90 per cent of the world's children and adolescents receive essential vaccines by 2030.
"Drastic cuts in aid, coupled with misinformation about the safety of vaccines, threaten to unwind decades of progress," warned WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Vaccine access remains deeply unequal, with widespread conflicts eroding efforts to boost vaccine coverage.
Dramatic cuts to international aid by the United States in particular, but also by other countries, could further worsen the situation.
While lack of access was the main cause of low coverage globally, the agencies also highlighted the threat of misinformation.
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