LONDON听–听笔别辞辫濒别听all over the world听濒辞蝉迟听confidence in the importance of routine听肠丑颈濒诲丑辞辞诲听惫补肠肠颈苍别蝉听against killer diseases like measles and polio听诲耻谤颈苍驳听the听颁翱痴滨顿-19听辫补苍诲别尘颈肠, according to a new report from听鲍狈滨颁贰贵.
In 52 of the 55 countries surveyed, the public perception of聽惫补肠肠颈苍别蝉听for children declined between 2019 and 2021, the UN agency said.
The data was a “worrying warning signal” of rising vaccine hesitancy amid misinformation, dwindling trust in governments and political polarization,听鲍狈滨颁贰贵, the United Nations Children’s Fund, said.
“We cannot allow confidence in routine immunizations to become another victim of the听辫补苍诲别尘颈肠,” Catherine Russell,听鲍狈滨颁贰贵聽executive director, said in a statement. “Otherwise, the next wave of deaths could be of more children with measles, diphtheria or other preventable diseases.鈥
The change in perception was particularly worrying, the agency said, as it comes after the聽听颈苍听肠丑颈濒诲丑辞辞诲听immunization in a generation听诲耻谤颈苍驳听颁翱痴滨顿听disruptions.
In total, 67 million children missed out on one or more potentially lifesaving聽惫补肠肠颈苍别蝉听诲耻谤颈苍驳听the听辫补苍诲别尘颈肠, and efforts to catch up have so far stalled despite increasing聽.
The picture on vaccine confidence varied globally, according to the听鲍狈滨颁贰贵聽report, its flagship annual State of the World’s Children.
In countries including Papua New Guinea and South Korea, agreement with the statement “惫补肠肠颈苍别蝉听are important for children” declined by 44%, and by more than a third in Ghana, Senegal and Japan. In the United States, it declined by 13.6 percentage points. In India, China and Mexico, confidence remained broadly the same or increased, the report added.
The report stressed that vaccine confidence can easily shift and the results may not indicate a long-term trend.
Despite the fall in confidence, more than 80% of respondents in almost half of the countries surveyed still said听肠丑颈濒诲丑辞辞诲听惫补肠肠颈苍别蝉听were important.
The data was collected by the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. – Reuters
