Reports: 1.6 million children unvaccinated in India

Around 55 per cent of unvaccinated children live in 31 countries with FCV settings, while these countries account for only 28 per cent of the global birth cohort.

By Connect Gujarat Desk 16 Jul 2024 in Health & Fitness

New Update

Reports: 1.6 million children unvaccinated in India

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India recorded 1.6 million zero-dose children in 2023, according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) estimate of national immunisation coverage (WUENIC), India ranks among the ten worst countries in mass immunisation, alongside Nigeria, Ethiopia, Congo, Sudan, Yemen, Indonesia, Angola, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

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Nigeria tops the list with 2.1 million unvaccinated children in 2023. India’s neighbourhood has a somewhat better trend.

Pakistan recorded around 3,96,000 unvaccinated children with Afghanistan at 4,67,000 in the category during the period.

Zero-dose children, as defined by WHO, are defined as those who lack access to, or are never reached by routine immunisation services.

The worrying part is that zero dose children mostly belong to countries and territories with fragile, conflict, and vulnerable (FCV) settings.

Around 55 per cent of unvaccinated children live in 31 countries with FCV settings, while these countries account for only 28 per cent of the global birth cohort.

Many of these countries have also experienced worrying declines in immunisation since 2019. The size of the bubbles is proportional to the number of unvaccinated children in each country.