We can achieve childhood immunisation goals
By Joseph Mbuthia, June 21, 2023Earlier this year, African heads of state met in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to discuss some of the continent’s most pressing challenges. Child health professionals should be happy to note that the leaders agreed on key measures to get childhood immunisation back on track following the massive disruptions caused by Covid-19 pandemic.
The resolutions are in line with the World Health Organisation’s theme for this year’s World Immunisation Week, “The Big Catch-Up,” which emphasises the need to accelerate progress in returning life-saving immunisation to pre-pandemic levels.
According to WHO, at the height of the pandemic, routine immunisation dropped significantly resulting in a 16 per cent increase in the number of under-immunised children across the continent. Further, both UNICEF and WHO estimate that half of the world’s zero-dose and under-immunised children live in Africa. This was a wake-up call for the African Heads of State.
Granted, vaccines are a proven, reasonably priced, and effective method of disease control. However, despite this being common knowledge, there has been a decline in the perceived value of vaccines since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a UNICEF report this year. Perhaps the shift in perception can be explained by the popularity of anti-vaxxer messaging on social media during the Covid-19 vaccine rollout.
At the height of the Covid-19, a combination of vaccine hesitancy, supply chain disruptions and increased strain on health systems resulted in 67 million children missing out on vaccinations worldwide. As a result, the number of measles cases more than doubled, and the number of children paralysed by polio increased by 16 per cent from the previous year in 2022.
Data from UNICEF’s immunisation portal shows that, in the middle of the pandemic, Kenya experienced a slight reduction in coverage of key vaccines including those that prevent TB, diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, among other serious illnesses. According to the Ministry of Health, approximately 300,000 infants miss critical vaccines yearly.
While the decline due to the pandemic was not as steep as in other territories around the world, it still exposed weak points within our immunisation systems. WHO, for its part, has set ambitious vaccination coverage targets such as achieving 90 per cent coverage of essential vaccines by 2030 and halving the number of children who do not receive vaccines at all.
Initiatives like the government-led periodic intensification of routine immunisation, which aims to increase access to vaccines across the country in order to improve last-mile coverage, should be expanded and supported by all. These intensification drives are often the only chance that many families in the country’s most remote areas can obtain vaccines.
Every effort must be made to address the persistent bottlenecks in vaccine delivery systems. In addition to improving vaccine availability, we must reconsider the availability of human resources and supply chain factors that will support immunisation efforts.
The public must also be consistently enlightened on the importance of vaccines in saving lives. Stakeholders must continue to educate the public in all available forums. Paediatricians should take a leading role in this exercise.
Kenya can also learn from countries that have managed to maintain 90 per cent essential vaccine coverage. There is no doubt that with renewed political will, as demonstrated by the heads of state in Addis Ababa, and increased efforts by health sector stakeholders, the country’s vaccine coverage can be increased.
— The writer is a consultant paediatrician / infectious diseases specialist at Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital