Xinhua News Agency, Geneva, April 24 (Reporter Wang Yanan) On the occasion of the World Immunization Week, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and the Global Vaccine Immunization Alliance issued a warning on the 24th that global immunization work is facing an increasingly serious threat. Misinformation, population growth, humanitarian crises and funding cuts have hindered the progress of immunization efforts and put millions at health risks.

  The WHO issued a communique on the same day saying that the outbreaks of diseases such as measles, meningitis, and yellow fever that can be prevented by vaccines are on the rise worldwide, among which diseases such as diphtheria that have long been controlled or almost disappeared in many countries are also at the risk of a comeback. In response, the three institutions jointly called on relevant parties to provide urgent and continuous political attention and financial support, strengthen immunization planning, and maintain the significant progress globally in reducing child mortality rates over the past 50 years.

  Taking measles as an example, since 2021, the number of cases worldwide has increased year by year, which is related to the decline in the coverage of immunizations in many communities during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is estimated that the number of measles cases in 2023 was 10.3 million, an increase of 20% from 2022. Over the past year, 138 countries and regions have reported cases of measles.

  The communiqué pointed out that these epidemics are at a time when global funding cuts. The recent WHO evaluation results show that in more than 100 countries, vaccination activities, routine immunization services and material acquisitions have been moderate to severe disruption due to reduced donation funds. The number of children not received routine vaccines has also continued to increase in recent years. It is estimated that around 14.5 million children worldwide have not received any conventional vaccines in 2023, up from 13.9 million in 2022 and 12.9 million in 2019.

  WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the communique: "In the past 50 years, vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives. Funding cuts in the global health field have put these hard-won results at stake. The epidemic of vaccine-preventable diseases is increasing around the world, not only life-threatening, but also increases the cost of treating diseases and responding to the epidemic in various countries." He called on countries with limited resources to invest in effective interventions such as vaccines.

  April 24-30 is World Immunization Week, and this year's theme is "Everyone has immunization services, we can do it."

[Editor in charge: Jiao Peng]