Gestor bibliográfico Crisis y Salud

The third edition of the State of the World's Vaccines and Immunization brought some good news about efforts toward immunizing children against vaccine-preventable diseases and the development of new vaccines, but also some dire warnings about how the global economic downturn might impede progress in immunization programs. The report, issued in October by the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), noted that there are now 106 million children receiving the required three doses of DPT (diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus) vaccine before their first birthday-a 74% increase in coverage since 2000. Despite this progress, 24 million children a year still fail to receive even a single dose of the DPT vaccine-a gap global health authorities fear will only widen if donor countries fail to sustain investments in immunization programs, particularly in developing countries. The global economic downturn is causing concern that the United Nations' Millennium Development Goal to reduce deaths among children under age five by 66% between 1990 and 2015 will not be met if countries are forced to curtail their immunization campaigns.