The federal health ministry has refuted the UNICEF international report on the country’s disease outbreak Immunity data. India has a high number of “Zero-Dose Children” as shown by a UNICEF report.
Who are the “zero-dose children”?
World Health Organization (WHO) Definition: Zero-dose children are defined as those who do not have or have never received routine immunization services. Children-Tetanus-Pertussis.
The significance of administering vaccines on time to “zero dose” children, who did not receive any vaccine cannot be overemphasized. Vaccinations provide crucial immunity against diseases like measles, polio and pertussis that safeguard babies from possible lethal infections.
Timely vaccination is important because newborns’ immune systems are still developing and thus vulnerable to infection. For antibodies production, vaccines work by introducing benign viruses or bacteria that stimulate the immune system into action. These antibodies give protection when the child encounters the real pathogen causing disease.
The role of vaccines is even far reaching than protecting individuals; they also help in community immunity referred to as herd immunity in other words. When a large part of population gets vaccinated, it significantly decreases spreading of diseases preventing even people who can’t get vaccinated for reasons related to health.
Number of children with zero dose increased from 2019
WUENIC data or WHO/UNICEF estimates of national immunization coverage indicate that “DPT immunization coverage is flat compared with 2022 and the number of ‘zero dose’ children remains higher than in pre-pandemic 2019 .
This comes from an alarming statistics where; “Number of completely unvaccinated (“zero doses”) slightly grew during last year (13,9 mln –14,5 mln +600,000), but it still remains more than in 2019−1.7 million.” Furthermore it notes :“By 2023, the total number of unimmunized and under-immunized children will reach 21 million, which is 2.7 million more than the baseline.”
India remains one of the ten countries where 59% of “zero-dose children” are found.
Indian government’s response to WUENIC data
The Ministry of Health in response to WUENIC data states that “Zero dose children constitute only 0.11% of the total population when compared with the country’s overall population.” It therefore reported that India has highest number of vaccinated children among other countries due to large population and comprehensive immunization coverage rate is 93.23%.
According to Indradhanush mission till 2023, 5.46 billion (54.6 crores) children have been vaccinated along with vaccinating pregnant women numbering around 1.32 crore
In order to cover zero-dose and unvaccinated children, India has implemented measures under the Indradhanush Mission and the Indradhanush Enhanced Mission with support from various nations; it resulted in a decrease by one-third in terms of zero doses between 2014 and up-to-date year. Since then, all districts have held twelve phases within the campaign including all phases for which vaccinations were done for over fifty four crore children as well as thirteen two crore pregnant women.
India outperforms most countries in providing World Health Organization-recommended vaccines through its universal immunization program. At an average coverage rate of OPV/IPV at above 80%, this has enabled India maintain status as polio free country for now over thirteen years since discovery last time way back in 2011.
What are the reasons for exclusion of these children from vaccination?
The number of “zero-dose” children or those who have not been immunized against any disease has increased due to various factors such as wrong beliefs, barriers to access and complacency about vaccination importance.
One major cause of this rise in zero-dose children is vaccine hesitancy driven by disinformation. Parents are misled into thinking that vaccines are unsafe and ineffective through social media, anti-vaccine advocacy groups, anecdotes etc. Even though scientific evidence reveals its safety; concerns over potential side effects may discourage parents from vaccinating their children.
Moreover, getting vaccines is a challenge especially in areas with low medical facilities and communities without access to health care services. For families who cannot afford the cost of vaccination services may face obstacles like limited medical infrastructure and lack of transportation. In other instances logistical issues including low supply of vaccines and inadequately trained healthcare workers also contribute to barrier to entry.
In some places where preventable diseases have almost completely disappeared or are very rare because there had been high percentages of people vaccinated against them, some parents may become complacent. Some people think that vaccine-preventable diseases are benign or natural immunity is adequate protection. They may not prioritize the timely vaccinations for their own offspring unless. They experience first-hand how disastrous these ailments could be.
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