Coronavirus: health crisis in sight in South Asia due to the cessation of childhood vaccinations

Bangladeshi children receive hand sanitizer to combat the spread of Covid-19 in a slum in Dhaka, March 19, 2020. Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP

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South Asia must resume vaccination campaigns interrupted by the new coronavirus as soon as the pandemic is contained, because their suspension puts hundreds of thousands of children at risk, warned UNICEF on Tuesday April 28.

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Unicef ​​sounds the sanitary alarm bell. While the Covid-19 does not seem to make many children seriously ill, the health of hundreds of thousands of children could be affected by this interruption of vaccination services  ," warns Jean Gough, the director of the UN agency in South Asia, worried about a "  serious threat  ".

The Bangladesh and Nepal have continued their campaigns against measles and rubella, while the Afghanistan and Pakistan , two of the three countries in the world where polio remains endemic, arrested their actions against this disease.

Consequence: sporadic epidemics of preventable diseases, including measles and diphtheria, have already been observed in Bangladesh, as in Pakistan and Nepal, warns UNICEF.

Vaccinate taking precautionary measures against Covid-19

The UN agency dedicated to children thus " strongly  " recommends  to governments to "  start now to plan the intensification of vaccination activities once the pandemic of new coronavirus is under control  ". She even calls to continue to vaccinate while taking the necessary measures.

As soon as health workers take the appropriate precautions, especially by washing their hands, there is no reason not to vaccinate," insists Paul Rutter, counselor at UNICEF. It is even crucial that the vaccination continues.  "

Vaccine shortages

Covid-19 also has an impact on the supply of vaccines in the region as it has affected their production, "  generating additional shortages  ".

India, whose economy has slowed sharply due to a national containment in progress for a month, had supplied 1.25 billion doses to UNICEF in 2019, according to the UN agency.

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  • Coronavirus
  • Bangladesh
  • Nepal
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  • Pakistan
  • Health and Medicine

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