Amman (AFP)
Millions of children in the Middle East and North Africa are at risk of not being vaccinated against polio and measles due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which disrupted vaccination campaigns in the region, alerted Sunday Unicef.
The United Nations Children's Agency (Unicef) reported that most countries in the region are continuing their routine immunization campaigns, with strict measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
But some vaccination campaigns have been suspended due to the mobilization of medical personnel in the fight against Covid-19 disease, according to the UN agency.
"As a result, ten million children under the age of five, or one in five, are at risk of not being vaccinated against polio," UNICEF said in a statement.
"Almost 4.5 million children under the age of 15 are at risk of not being vaccinated against measles," the source said.
"It is absolutely crucial that every child is immunized against life-threatening diseases like polio, measles, diphtheria and hepatitis," said Ted Chaiban, UNICEF regional director.
According to Mr. Chaiban, with precautionary measures such as wearing a mask and gloves and social distancing, vaccination remains "possible for children, even at the time of (the disease) Covid-19".
Unicef and the World Health Organization warned in mid-April that, due to the reduction in vaccination campaigns in several countries engaged in the fight against the pandemic of new coronavirus, some 117 million children worldwide people were at risk of contracting measles.
© 2020 AFP