The world is witnessing an increase in the number of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks. Some of them, which previously almost disappeared in many countries, are once again acquiring a “particularly dangerous” scale. About this it is said in a joint statement by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the international vaccination alliance Gavi.
Among the main reasons for this trend are the spread of misinformation, population growth, humanitarian crises, as well as a decrease in international funding aimed at combating infectious diseases.
Of particular concern are diseases such as measles, meningitis, yellow fever and diphtheria. The latter, for example, almost disappeared in many countries in previous years, but now it is making a comeback.
According to the given data, during the last 12 months, cases of measles were recorded in 138 countries of the world. In 61 of them, outbreaks have reached a significant or devastating scale — these indicators have become the highest since 2019, which threatens to return the disease “to a particularly dangerous state.” In 2024, there is also a significant increase in cases of meningitis and yellow fever in African countries.
The WHO notes that such a situation calls into question the progress achieved over the past 50 years in reducing the level of child mortality. Against the background of the increase in the number of outbreaks, a decrease in the coverage of scheduled vaccinations is recorded. According to the WHO, in 2023, 14.5 million children did not receive the necessary doses of vaccines — 600,000 more than in the previous year.
“Vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives over the past five decades. Cuts in funding for global protection have put these hard-won gains at risk.” – explained WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
According to him, the increase in the number of disease outbreaks in the world can also cause a significant increase in health care costs for certain countries.
