‘60% of unvaccinated children live in Nigeria, others’

The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund has said that about 60 per cent of unvaccinated children live in Nigeria and nine other countries globally.

The others are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan, the Philippines, Uganda and South Africa.

According to the UN agency, with over 61 and 58 per cent, South Sudan and Somalia have the highest population of unvaccinated children in the world.

UNICEF Chief of Immunisation, Robin Nandy, who disclosed this at the beginning of the 2016 World Immunisation Week, noted that conflict challenges in these countries have created an ideal environment for frequent outbreak of diseases and poor immunisation coverage.

Nandy said, “Children affected by conflict are pushed into a downward spiral of deprivation that robs them of their health and, by extension, their future. Vaccination can help to break this vicious cycle. Immunisation is a vital service that deserves and requires protection from all parties to a conflict.”

PUNCH.