Senegal’s President Macky Sall called on African leaders to allocate more funds for routine immunization in Africa.
The president made the call during the Forum on Immunization and Polio Eradication in Africa, which aimed to address the issue of the alarming decline in the number of children receiving life-saving vaccines as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sall emphasized that in 2021, about 25 million children all over the world missed out on vaccination due to the pandemic.
Therefore, the president reminded African leaders of the importance of implementing the Addis Declaration on Immunization and the Immunization Agenda 2030, which pledge to provide life-saving vaccines to all Africans, regardless of whom they are or where they live.
The president pointed out that immunization rates should be restored in order to address the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases. Particularly, he gave the example of polio disease, which was proclaimed defeated by the World Health Organization in 2020, when Nigeria – Africa’s only nation that still had the virus – hadn't recorded infection cases in months. However, the president underlined that polio cases have been reported in communities where immunization has not been carried out.
“It must be said loud and clear that immunization is a safe intervention… Immunization saves lives… prevents human suffering and disabilities, and it helps to build strong immune systems in children,” the president pointed out
Sall also called on African leaders to develop vaccine production on the continent.
Catherine Russell, executive director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), agreed that children's lives are jeopardized due to the decline in routine vaccinations against deadly diseases.
“We must urgently make up lost ground and expand our reach to prevent dangerous outbreaks of diseases like polio and measles, especially among children who have yet to receive a single immunization. We know this is possible if we all work together to reach every child,” she pointed out.
Meanwhile, Deputy Director of the Africa Centers of Disease Control and Prevention Ahmed Ouma assured that the organization is committed to re-engage “around the Addis Declaration on Immunization to increase access to vaccines, improve outbreaks surveillance and response and invest in vaccine production in Africa.”
Likewise, Tedros Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), has called for coordinated regional and global action to protect people from outbreaks of polio, measles, yellow fever, cholera, and diphtheria.
According to data from the official site of the Forum on Immunization and Polio Eradication in Africa, due to COVID-19, at least 16 African countries suspended polio vaccination campaigns for four months in 2020, resulting in tens of millions of children missing out on polio vaccines and causing 24 African countries to be affected by variant poliovirus outbreaks as of November 2022.
Moreover, for the same reason, coverage of the third dose of Diphtheria, Tetanus toxoid and Pertussis vaccine (DTP3) decreased from 76% in 2019 to 73% in 2021, hitting the lowest coverage level since 2013.
As for measles first dose coverage (MCV1) in Africa, it declined from 73% in 2019 to 70% in 2021. In 2021, measles claimed the lives of 128,000 people globally.
The coverage of the third dose of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV3) in Africa also fell from 66% in 2018 to 63% in 2021.
Furthermore, statistics show that other vaccine-preventable diseases, such as cholera, are currently also on the rise in a number of African countries.