The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nation Children Fund (UNICEF) have warned of a looming measles and polio epidemics and therefore called for urgent action to avert the situation.
The impending epidemics, the UN bodies said, was due to the disruption of immunisaation activities by the COVID-19.
In a statement in Abuja, Wednesday, the two organisations lamented that the effect of Corona virus, has left millions of vulnerable children worldwide at heightened risk of preventable childhood diseases.
The statement quoted the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as saying: “COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on health services and in particular immunization services, worldwide.”
“But unlike with COVID, we have the tools and knowledge to stop diseases such as polio and measles. What we need are the resources and commitments to put these tools and knowledge into action. If we do that, children’s lives will be saved.”
On her part, UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, said that: “We cannot allow the fight against one deadly disease to cause us to lose ground in the fight against other diseases.
“Addressing the global COVID-19 pandemic is critical.
However, other deadly diseases also threaten the lives of millions of children in some of the poorest areas of the world.
“That is why today we are urgently calling for global action from country leaders, donors and partners.
“We need additional financial resources to safely resume vaccination campaigns and prioritize immunization systems that are critical to protect children and avert other epidemics besides COVID-19.”
The statement recalled that in recent years, there has been a global resurgence of measles with ongoing outbreaks in all parts of the world.
It regretted that Vaccination coverage gaps have been further exacerbated in 2020 by COVID-19.
In 2019, the statement revealed, measles climbed to the highest number of new infections in more than two decades.
“Nigeria remains at risk of both polio and measles outbreaks due to the inadequate improvements in increasing the routine immunization coverage in children receiving lifesaving vaccines. Nigeria was declared free of the wild poliovirus in August 2020.
“Measles also continues to be among leading cause of death and disability among children, with first dose of measles vaccination coverage of only 54 percent (NDHS 2018) in Nigeria. Nigeria is conducting supplemental immunizations to prevent outbreaks,” the statement noted.
The statement quoted UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Peter Hawkins, as saying: “Immunization is the best way to secure the future of our children. It is very safe, effective and available at all government health centres.
“All caregivers and parents need to ensure that their children are fully vaccinated and protected from childhood killer diseases – including ensuring that all doses are taken, so that the vaccine can be effective.”
Commenting, the WHO Country Representative in Nigeria, Walter Kazadi Mulombo, said: “We must continue to engage traditional and religious institutions, as well as other key stakeholders at the community level, to stay vigilant and keep up vaccination rates to avert a resurgence of the wild poliovirus – and to address the continued threat of the vaccine-derived polio and other vaccine preventable disease outbreaks, including measles.”
WHO and UNICEF estimate that US$655 million (US$400 million for polio and US$255 million for measles) are needed to address dangerous immunity gaps in non-Gavi eligible countries and target age groups.
