Study finds millions of children at risk as global vaccine rates fall

Millions of children worldwide have been left vulnerable to preventable diseases, including measles, polio, and tuberculosis, according to a new analysis published on Tuesday in the medical journal, The Lancet.

It found that life-saving vaccination efforts have stalled or reversed since 2010, amid persistent health inequalities, misinformation, and vaccine-hesitancy.

Protection from measles in particular has dropped in 100 countries, including in rich nations that had previously eliminated the highly infectious disease.

The report’s authors, from the University of Washington, say progress in rolling out jabs over the past five decades has prevented the deaths of 154 million children.

But by 2023, nearly 16 million had not had any childhood vaccinations, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia.

They noted that in 2023, more than half of the world’s unvaccinated children lived in just eight countries: Nigeria, India, Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Indonesia, and Brazil.

Since US President Donald Trump withdrew funding from the World Health Organization and dismantled the US Agency for International Aid, public health experts have warned of new epidemics of infectious diseases.

The researchers said it was too early to know what impact recent funding cuts might have on children's immunisation rates.

They are calling for a concerted effort to provide better and more equal access to vaccines saying routine childhood jabs are one of the most cost-effective public health interventions.

The study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance.