The level of vaccination of children in the world is rapidly declining, jeopardizing millions of children's lives. This applies not only to poor countries but also to developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Japan. This is stated in a large -scale study of scientists at the University of Washington, whose results were published by The Guardian.
The analysis captured data on planned immunization in 204 countries between 1980 and 2023. If in 1980 almost 59 million children received no vaccination, then by 2019 this figure decreased to 14.7 million. According to scientists, vaccination has saved at least 154 million children's lives during this time.
However, after 2010, the situation began to change for the worse. Researchers have recorded a decrease in measles vaccinations in 100 countries. And in 21 of 36 high income countries - in particular in France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US, the proportion of children who received at least one dose of a basic vaccine that protects against such dangerous diseases as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping, cough, polio, tuberculosis and measles have decreased.
Against the background of reducing vaccination, new outbreaks of infections are recorded. In particular, polio is again threatened by Afghanistan, Pakistan and Papua New Guinea. In Europe, in 2024, the number of measles cases increased by almost ten times. In the United States, in May 2025 alone, more than 1000 cases of measles were recorded in 30 states - this is the highest in recent years.
Among the main reasons for the fall in immunization, experts are the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, the inequality in access to medical care, the crisis of trust in medical systems and the rapid spread of misinformation about vaccines, especially in social networks.
Researchers emphasize that without urgent actions will not be able to achieve global immunization goals by 2030. Governments, health care systems and international organizations should restore vaccination programs and counteract fakes as soon as possible.
We will remind, in Ukraine for the first four months of 2025 684 cases of measles have already been registered, and experts predict further growth.
