Efforts to vaccinate children worldwide against deadly diseases such as measles and diphtheria began to recover in 2022 after a historic backslide caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to figures from the World Health Organisation and UN Children's Fund (Unicef).
But the recovery remains uneven, with strong returns in large lower-middle income countries such as India and Indonesia masking continuing problems in many smaller and poorer countries, the agencies said on Tuesday.
In 2022, 20.5 million children missed one or more routine childhood vaccines, down from 24.4 million children in 2021.
Despite the progress, the numbers are still higher than in 2019, when 18.4 million children were not fully protected.
The numbers are estimated from 183 countries, using data based on the three-dose diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) inoculation.
They include children who had no vaccines at all or who missed any of the doses necessary for protection.
Globally, coverage rates were at 86 per cent pre-pandemic, and 84 per cent in 2022.
WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the numbers were “encouraging”, but there were concerns the most vulnerable were being left behind.
“When countries and regions lag, children pay the price,” Dr Tedros said.
Of the 73 countries that had substantial declines in routine coverage during the pandemic, 34 – including countries such as Angola and Syria – have had no improvement since or even got worse.
Fifteen have recovered to pre-pandemic levels and 24 were on the route to recovery, the WHO and Unicef said.
The agencies also warned that measles vaccinations had not recovered as quickly, with 21.9 million children globally missing their first dose in 2022 – 2.7 million more than in 2019 – and 13.3 million their second.
In low-income countries, coverage rates for measles continued to decline last year, to 66 per cent compared with 67 per cent in 2021, said Kate O'Brien, WHO head of immunisation.
Measles outbreaks are already on the rise.
“When children are not vaccinated, that means they are not immune to life-threatening diseases,” Ms O'Brien told Reuters. “Children are going to die."
Only rates of the HPV vaccination, which prevents cervical cancer, have recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
But they remain below the 90 per cent target, at 67 per cent in the high-income countries and 55 per cent in the low and middle-income countries where the shot has been introduced.
Alongside Gavi, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners, the WHO and Unicef launched a push this year to help countries catch up on childhood vaccination.
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First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
'Laal Kaptaan'
Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
MATCH INFO
Syria v Australia
2018 World Cup qualifying: Asia fourth round play-off first leg
Venue: Hang Jebat Stadium, Malayisa
Kick-off: Thursday, 4.30pm (UAE)
Watch: beIN Sports HD
* Second leg in Australia on October 10
MATCH INFO
CAF Champions League semi-finals first-leg fixtures
Tuesday:
Primeiro Agosto (ANG) v Esperance (TUN) (8pm UAE)
Al Ahly (EGY) v Entente Setif (ALG) (11PM)
Second legs:
October 23
