“South Asia has reached its highest-ever immunization coverage for children, according to new data released today by WHO and UNICEF for 2024…In 2024, 92 per cent of the infants in the region received their third dose of the Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis (DTP) vaccine, a crucial global indicator of vaccination progress. This marks a 2 percentage point increase since 2023. During the same period, the proportion of children receiving their first dose of DTP increased from 93 per cent to 95 per cent,” reports the World Health Organization:
These figures show a strong bounce back, surpassing pre-COVID levels…there was a 27 per cent reduction in the number of children who did not receive a single dose of the vaccine, also known as zero-dose children, decreasing from 2.5 million to 1.8 million in a year.
Progress has been notably strong in India and Nepal. India reduced its number of zero-dose children by 43 per cent (from 1.6 million in 2023 to 0.9 million in 2024), and Nepal achieved a 52 per cent reduction (from 23,000 in 2023 to 11,000 in 2024). Pakistan also achieved its highest-ever DTP3 coverage at 87 per cent. However, Afghanistan still faces challenges, having the lowest coverages in the region and saw a 1 percentage point drop in coverage over the past year.
South Asia achieved the strongest regional progress in eliminating measles. In 2024, 93 per cent of infants received the first dose and 88 per cent received the second dose, up from 90 and 87 per cent, respectively. The number of measles cases dropped 39 per cent, from over 90,000 in 2023 to about 55,000 in 2024. However, vaccine coverage remains below the 95 per cent threshold required to prevent outbreaks.
Vaccination cut child deaths by two-thirds in Burundi, the world’s second poorest country.
Whooping cough cases jumped 14 fold in Michigan due to a drop in vaccination.
