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AROUND THE WORLD 3: Children Not Protected By Immunization

According to the United Nations Children's Fund, an unprecedented number of children--an estimated twenty-seven million--and forty million pregnant women are not being immunized against basic diseases. In addition, forty-one countries worldwide are not protecting children's health as carefully as they did in previous years.

In a recent country-by-country data report which outlined the progress of healthcare in developing countries, UNICEF Executive Director Anne M. Veneman said, "Immunization is one of the safest and most cost effective interventions we know. We need to protect the gains we've made and expand our efforts in others."

Reportedly, the majority of countries in west and central Africa still need to work on improving their immunization programs in order to decrease mortality rates among young children. The main health threats to children are measles, haemophilus influenza type B, whooping cough and neonatal tetanus, all of which are preventable with widely available low-cost vaccines.

In central and west Africa, only an estimated fifty-two percent of young children are currently being immunized each year. In the face of a decrease in survival rates among children, health officials hope to improve immunization programs in the near future.

--Written by Jackie O'Neal

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