In news–Global partners including WHO, UNICEF, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation “The Big Catch-up” to vaccinate millions of children and restore immunization progress lost during the pandemic.
About the initiative-
- It is a targeted global effort to boost vaccination among children following declines driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- This effort aims to reverse the declines in childhood vaccination recorded in over 100 countries since the pandemic, due to overburdened health services, closed clinics, and disrupted imports and exports of vials, syringes and other medical supplies.
- With over 25 million children missing at least one vaccination in 2021 alone, outbreaks of preventable diseases, including measles, diphtheria, polio and yellow fever are already becoming more prevalent and severe.
- The Big Catch-up aims to protect populations from vaccine-preventable outbreaks, save children’s lives and strengthen national health systems.
- While calling on people and governments in every country to play their part in helping to catch up by reaching the children who missed out, The Big Catch-up will have a particular focus on the 20 countries(including India) where three quarters of the children who missed vaccinations in 2021 live.
Source: WHO
