Childhood vaccine coverage in SA declined in 2023 - report
A mother holds her baby and the Road To Health Booklet, which is a record of a child's growth, immunisations, and health interventions.
A marker used to measure immunisation coverage is to look at whether children received three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis – referred to as DTP3.At the same time, the number of children worldwide, who had not received any vaccinations, had increased. Madhi said a more accurate picture of childhood immunisation coverage in the country could be found in national vaccine coverage surveys, like the Expanded Programme on Immunisation National Coverage survey.He said it appeared the new report did not incorporate data from the EPI survey. However, even without this data, he said the WHO estimates were not too far off the local data.
However, he said the latest data from the report"holds no good news for South Africa" because the dip in coverage in 2023 was noteworthy. "South Africa's performance is moderate when compared globally, and poor compared to other high middle-income countries," said Saloojee. The EPI survey found that only seven of the 52 districts in the country were able to achieve the national target of 90% of children fully vaccinated under one year of age.
He said South Africa was a leader in the field in evaluating and introducing vaccines to the public immunisation programme. Saloojee added that it was also likely that children who were not fully vaccinated were"not receiving many of the other health, education and social development services all children require and that was being provided by government, such as early childhood development services and child support grants".
He also suggested ring-fencing funds for vaccines, at either a national or provincial level, to ensure that money earmarked for vaccines was used for that purpose to ensure less stock-outs.
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