Geneva/New York, July 20 (Agency) India’s commitment, investment and consistent efforts to vaccinate children have yielded significant results, with the number of zero-dose children coming down to 1.1 million in 2022 from 2.7 million a year before, according to the latest WUENIC report. In 2022, an additional 1.6 million children came under the lifesaving vaccination coverage. “The progress in routine immunisation coverage brings the promise of healthy life for children in India. It shows the dividends of the government’s evidence-based catch-up campaigns and an effective primary health care and immunization structure that helped India recover from the pandemic-induced backslides in 2020-2021,” said Cynthia McCaffrey, UNICEF India Representative. McCaffrey also commended the government for its commitment that contributed to a leap forward by further reducing the zero-dose children to 1.1 million. “Efforts such as the fourth Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) and India’s consistent provision of comprehensive Primary Health Care services are enabling this progress,” she said. She said reaching every child is a real possibility as India continues to prioritise strategies, such as catch-up campaigns.
“UNICEF supports the government in its effort to reach missed children in vulnerable communities, the urban poor, migrants, and children living in hard-to-reach areas,” McCaffrey said. Earlier UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children (SOWC) 2023 report acknowledged India was among countries with the highest vaccine confidence. According to UNICEF, it is a testament to India’s successful social mobilisation and strategic communication in addressing vaccine hesitancy and raising confidence in the importance of immunization. Meanwhile, global immunisation services reached 4 million more children in 2022 compared to the previous year, as countries stepped up efforts to address the historic backsliding in immunization caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the data published on Wednesday by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF, in 2022, 20.5 million children missed out on one or more vaccines delivered through routine immunisation services, compared to 24.4 million children in 2021. In spite of this improvement, the number remains higher than the 18.4 million children who missed out in 2019 before pandemic-related disruptions, underscoring the need for ongoing catch-up, recovery and system strengthening efforts.