"In just five years, full vaccination coverage against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis has increased from 90% in 2015 to 76% in 2020", or 2.5 million additional children who are insufficiently vaccinated, indicated the Fund for United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in a statement.
"The decline in vaccination rates in the region is alarming," said Jean Gough, director of the regional branch of UNICEF, whose headquarters are in Panama.
"Millions of children and adolescents are at risk of serious complications, even death, when it could be avoided," she said, quoted in the press release.
According to Unicef data, Haiti and Suriname, with only half of children vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, have the lowest coverage rates in the region, followed by Venezuela (60%) , Bolivia (68%) and Ecuador (70%).
Unicef recalls the reality of epidemiological outbreaks, such as that of diphtheria, which increased from 5 cases in 2013 throughout the region to nearly 900 cases in 2018. Measles, which is more contagious, reached 23,000 people in 2019 against 500 in 2013.
"There are several causes for this decline," Ralph Midy, regional specialist in maternal and newborn health for UNICEF in Latin America and the Caribbean, told AFP.
“The context in the region has changed over the past five years. Governments have focused their attention on other emerging public health issues, such as (the) zika virus, chikungunya virus and more recently Covid-19” , he said.
The existence of hard-to-reach migrant populations as well as access to people living in isolated areas also hamper vaccination campaigns, he said.
If the decrease in vaccination coverage precedes the arrival of the pandemic, UNICEF believes that the situation has been exacerbated by "the closure or irregular reception in many primary health centers (...) and the fear of 'catch Covid-19 by going there'.
Unicef calls on governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to urgently restore and strengthen basic immunization programs, develop campaigns to increase confidence in vaccines and implement plans to reach the poorest populations. more vulnerable.
© 2022 AFP