WHO Countries to Vaccinate Children
April 23, 2013
A mother holds her baby as he receives a pneumococcal vaccination during a national vaccination campaign in Managua, April 15, 2013.
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.
The World Health Organization says vaccinations against disease save the lives of two to three million children every year. The WHO says almost 80 percent of babies are vaccinated against diseases like diphtheria, measles and whooping cough. But 20 percent -- or about 22 million children -– are not protected. That is why many efforts to end polio and measles have not succeeded, says WHO Director of Immunization Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele. But Dr. Okwo-BEle also says the cost of newer vaccines is too high for children in poor countries.
“The newer vaccines that are available against the two top killers of children – pneumonia and diarrhea – these vaccines are not accessible to the majority of children in the world. And, we know that child deaths will be reduced by an additional one to one and one half million deaths with increased access to all vaccines.”
The WHO says most of the UN-vaccinated children live in countries in Africa and southeast Asia. Eighty percent of those who are not vaccinated against preventable diseases live in 10 countries. The list includes Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Indonesia and Pakistan.
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