In 2024, the United Nations announced that more than 14 million children remain unvaccinated. This concerning statistic, reported jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, indicates that in regions such as Europe and Central Asia, vaccination rates for children have either plateaued or decreased by 1%. Officials are warning that misinformation and cuts in international aid are contributing to significant gaps in vaccine coverage, placing millions of children at risk of preventable diseases.
Significant increases in diseases like whooping cough and measles have been observed in Europe due to declining vaccination coverage, with whooping cough cases tripling to nearly 300,000 and measles infections doubling to over 125,000 in 2024. Moreover, just nine countries – Nigeria, India, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Angola – are home to more than half of the world’s unvaccinated children. “Millions of children lack protection against preventable diseases, and that is a concern for all of us,” stated UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
This crisis comes at a time when the United States, despite having been declared measles-free by WHO 25 years ago, is experiencing its worst year for the disease, with 1,288 reported cases of measles in 2025. This alarming situation underscores the critical role of vaccination in safeguarding public health, with vaccines preventing an estimated 3.5 to 5 million deaths annually.
Source: https://www.dw.com/en/more-than-14-million-children-unvaccinated-in-2024-report/a-73278315?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
