Image: A health worker administers polio vaccine to a child during a door-to-door immunisation campaign in Karachi, Pakistan.
A Lancet study has found that global childhood vaccination rates have plummeted worldwide since 2010, with vaccine hesitancy, health care inequity, and the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions driving declines.
Childhood vaccination rates have plummeted around the world over the last two decades leaving millions of children vulnerable to preventable diseases, according to a major study. Although the number of vaccinated children has nearly doubled since 1980 – global polio immunisation rates, for example, rose from 42 per cent to 80 per cent – progress has stalled or even reversed in many countries since 2010.
The study, published in The Lancet, analysed coverage rates for 11 core vaccines for diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, whopping cough, and measles recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) across 204 countries and territories.
Vaccine hesitancy, unequal access to healthcare – particularly in fragile or conflict-affected states – and the long-lasting disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, are among several factors behind the decline in coverage. Nearly 16 million children worldwide have never received a single vaccine, more than half of whom live in just eight countries: Nigeria, India, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Indonesia, and Brazil.
The issue is not just reserved to poorer countries – 21 out of 36 high-income countries also experienced drop in coverage for at least one dose of vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, or tuberculosis since 2010, mainly due to rising vaccine scepticism.
Globally, the proportion of children receiving the measles vaccine declined in 100 of 204 countries since 2010, with the largest decrease observed in Latin America and the Caribbean, where coverage fell from around 90 per cent in 2010 to 87 per cent 2019, resulting in almost one million fewer children being vaccinated against measles.
The pandemic greatly exacerbated challenges with global vaccination rates, which saw a sharp beginning in 2020 – resulting in an estimated 15.6 million children missing the full three doses of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine or a measles vaccine between 2020 and 2023, as well as 15.9 million children not receiving any polio vaccine, and 9.18 million missing out on the tuberculosis vaccine.
Increased risk of vaccine-preventable disease
The decline in global immunisation coverage has resulted in a significant rise in the number of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks in recent years, the authors said. Pakistan and Afghanistan reported 74 and 23 cases of wild polio virus in 2024, more than a four-fold increase from the year before. Papua New Guinea, where less than half the population is vaccinated, is also experiencing its first polio outbreak since 2018.
In 2024, the European Union reported 32,265 cases of measles compared to just 3,973 in 2023 – a jump of more than a factor of 10 – while an ongoing measles outbreak in the southern states of the US has resulted in over 1,000 cases and two deaths so far in 2025, already surpassing the number of total cases recorded in 2024.
“Despite the monumental efforts of the past 50 years, progress has been far from universal. Large numbers of children remain under- and un-vaccinated”, said senior study author Dr Jonathan Mosser from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington.
“Routine childhood vaccinations are among the most powerful and cost-effective public health interventions available, but persistent global inequalities, challenges from the Covid pandemic, and the growth of vaccine misinformation and hesitancy have all contributed to faltering immunisation progress. These trends increase the risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles, polio, and diphtheria, underscoring the critical need for targeted improvements to ensure that all children can benefit from lifesaving immunisations,” Dr Mosser said.
The findings come ahead of a pledge summit for Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance on Wednesday, in which GAVI – which facilitates vaccinations for half the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases – is seeking to secure $9 billion in order to immunise 500 million children over the next few years.
The Gates Foundation on Tuesday said it would commit $1.6 billion over the next five years to support Gavi, but said that the money would not be enough to plug the gaps left by rich nations if they reduce their commitments.
SOURCE: The Telegraph, by Maeve Cullinan, 24 June 2025. PHOTO: Shahzaib Akber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock.