Vaccination: how to catch up with millions of children – 04/25/2023 – Health

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Vaccination is perhaps one of the greatest achievements of mankind. The introduction of immunization in children’s routine was able to eradicate infectious diseases and dramatically decrease the mortality of children. However, in recent years there has been a drop in vaccination coverage of various immunizers in Brazil and in the world, raising an alert to the possibility of the return of diseases already eliminated in the past.

A study released by Unicef ​​pointed out that, worldwide, 48 million children did not receive no dose of the DTP vaccine, which protects against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, between 2019 and 2021.

The DTP vaccine is considered a proxy, that is, it indicates that there was adequate vaccination in the first months of life, which can also be extrapolated to other immunizers. This means that millions of children who have not received DTP must also be unprotected for other childhood illnesses, such as hepatitis A, polio It is triple viral (which protects against measles).

In Brazil, the number of children not immunized in the same period is 2.4 millionof which 1.6 million did not receive no dose at birth. The same number can be considered for polioa highly infectious disease that can leave sequelae such as infantile paralysis.

fake news

the disclosure of fake news took a leap in the pandemic, through an orchestrated campaign to discredit vaccines against Covid. This significantly impacted the immunization. According to the Unicef ​​study, the confidence in immunizations has dropped in 52 countries, including Brazil, from 2019 to 2021. Only India, China and Mexico had an increase in the confidence of their populations about immunizers.

The attempt to discredit the effectiveness of vaccines is not new, but it was strengthened during the pandemic, when groups began to spread false information about the immunizer that protects against coronavirus. A distrust and the fear ended up affecting the acceptance of other vaccines.

A survey carried out by Ipec at the request of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer showed that 1 out of 3 parents or guardians of children aged 0 to 14 years do not believe that the vaccine protects against severe form of Covid in your children.

How to get recoveryerr?

According to experts, joint efforts must be made to recover vaccination. Some of the factors that lead to vaccine delay or decline, in addition to disbelief in vaccines, are:

• difficult access to health posts;

• working hours;

• problems related to the stock of doses;

• perception of lower risk of diseases already controlled (lack of knowledge makes parents believe that it is not a greater evil);

• forgetfulness and lack of knowledge about the vaccines included in the calendar.

Uniting health professionals, community and religious leaders, the third sector (through partnerships with NGOs), social workers and educators, promoting campaigns and actions in schools, are some of the bets to catch up.

Furthermore, practice active search of unvaccinated children, going to their homes, is another measure considered successful to increase vaccination.

From April 24 to 30, Vaccination Week in the Americas is celebrated, organized by PAHO (Pan-American arm of the WHO) with the aim of expanding efforts and vaccinating the populations of 40 countries and territories of the Americas, especially indigenous peoples, migrants , border populations and peripheries that have difficulty accessing health care.

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