WHO implores South Asia to step up efforts to immunise unvaccinated children

Countries forming the South-East Asia Region were urged by the World Health Organization (WHO) to build on efforts to identify and immunise unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children, stated a report by PTI.

In the region, nearly 3.4 million children weren't administered all the vaccines offered under the childhood immunisation programme. This is as per the latest global data from the year 2023.

Upon this, over 2.7 million among them did not get any vaccines and they are now vulnerable, according to WHO.

"The increasing numbers of unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children calls for urgent and accelerated action. We need to identify where and why these children are missed and prioritize reaching them at the earliest. No child should fall sick or die of any vaccine-preventable disease when safe and effective vaccines exist to protect them against these deadly diseases," said Saima Wazed, Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia region, as per the PTI report.

When it comes to achieving the 2030 immunisation agenda and the regional vaccine action plan to achieve over 90 per cent coverage with three doses of diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DTP3) vaccines in all countries, the South-East Asia is off track, the director informed, stated the report by PTI.