A massive worldwide increase in child vaccination still leaves millions unprotected, health officials warned yesterday.
The latest immunisation report shows that 65 countries will need "game-changing" strategies to meet world targets for immunisation.
This is even though the number of countries meeting these targets has doubled since 2000 – and 129 countries now vaccinate at least 90% of children against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.
Some of the countries pose major problems, the World Health Organisation warned.
There are six countries where fewer than 6% of children get the vaccine and these include Syria, South Sudan, Chad and Somalia. The other two are the Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea.
Globally some 12 million children did not receive their first dose of the DTP vaccine, according to the report.
The report says that India has now achieved 80% coverage – although it also has the largest number of unvaccinated children, reflecting its size.
The report states: "The number of countries using other new vaccines, such as rotavirus and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, has increased.
"However, challenges remain. Only 19% of children are protected against rotavirus, despite the fact that some of the countries that have not introduced the vaccine have the largest share of diarrhoeal diseases."
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