Lockdowns due to COVID-19 and the accompanying reduced access to medical services on a global scale have led to a concerning drop in immunization against polio and the measles—two deadly but preventable diseases.
The United Nations Children’s Fund and World Health Organization are calling for a $655-million-dollar investment to address the potential vulnerability.
The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting immunizations worldwide, leaving millions of children at risk of preventable diseases. UNICEF and @WHO are calling for urgent action to avert major epidemics of measles and polio.#VaccinesWork pic.twitter.com/DAluGJ687a
— UNICEF (@UNICEF) November 6, 2020
In 2019, the WHO reported that 86 percent of children in its member states had received three polio vaccines, but estimate that number may have been cut in half by COVID. Currently, the disease is only found in Pakistan and Afghanistan. For the past three decades, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPIEI) has used the development and proliferation of the vaccine to contain the viral disease, but those efforts have been largely frustrated by a ban on international travel and government shutdowns.
In a similar vein, the measles vaccine in 2019 was distributed to 85 percent of the population. 71 Percent had received two. But in the past year and a half, measles cases grew to their highest numbers in twenty years worldwide.
Leaders from both organizations stress that the danger isn’t that polio and the measles are already back and spreading—at least not at an uncontrollable rate. Instead, the concern of experts like Henrietta Force, the Executive Director of the UNICEF, is that an emphasis on combatting COVID has detracted from protections that would otherwise be in place against the two diseases; an attempt to protect doctors and patients alike from the spread of COVID-19 has created a chink in the armor elsewhere.
Director Force says that’s a risk the global medial community can’t take.
“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,” she said.
If left unaddressed, a spotlight on COVID could mean other diseases have a chance to grown in the dark and catch depleted health services off-guard.
Join and support independent free thinkers!
We’re independent and can’t be cancelled. The establishment media is increasingly dedicated to divisive cancel culture, corporate wokeism, and political correctness, all while covering up corruption from the corridors of power. The need for fact-based journalism and thoughtful analysis has never been greater. When you support The Post Millennial, you support freedom of the press at a time when it's under direct attack. Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1.
Remind me next month
To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy
