Vaccines are crucial not just for children, but for everyone's protection. Shockingly, about 19.5 million kids are not receiving even the most basic vaccines, making them vulnerable to dangerous diseases.
Every year, the lives of 16,000 children end before the age of five.
UNICEF is dedicated to ensuring that the number of deaths due to lack of vaccination reaches zero. UNICEF has played a vital role in quadrupling vaccination rates for children globally since 1980, making it possible to save up to 3 million children's lives annually. Despite the progress, there is still more work to be done to ensure that every child has access to life-saving vaccines and immunization services.
A father holds his young child and smiles after the infant receives a Measles and Rubella vaccine during a recent UNICEF-backed campaign.
In times of humanitarian emergencies like conflicts or natural disasters, UNICEF gives priority to vaccination campaigns to protect vulnerable children. Despite challenges faced in 2021, UNICEF was able to vaccinate 22.4 million children against measles in 48 countries.
Due to the escalation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, an estimated 16,854 children were unable to receive routine vaccinations, which resulted in reduced immunization during a significant period of risk. However, in November, UNICEF, together with WHO and partners, was able to transport 3,000 doses of essential polio and measles, mumps and rubella vaccines from the central warehouses of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the northern part of the Gaza Strip and transfer them to health clinics operating in the southern part of the Strip.
In the Ukraine region, UNICEF provided over three million doses of vaccines between 2022 and 2023, which included polio, hepatitis B, diphtheria-tetanus vaccines for children and adults, measles-mumps-rubella, BCG for the prevention of tuberculosis, pentavalent vaccine, rabies vaccine and COVID-19 vaccine.
We go wherever it is necessary to give children a better future. We cross rivers and walk through remote areas and mountains. It is worthy, because immunization saves 2-3 million lives each year and plays a central role in ending preventable child deaths.
Now more than ever, children need to be protected against diseases that were already believed to be eradicated. A vaccine is the best guarantee for their future. You can contribute to give children a future.