According to the official website of the World Health Organization (WHO) on April 24th, during the "World Immunization Week" held from the 24th to the 30th, WHO、 The United Nations Children's Fund and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization have jointly issued a warning that diseases that could have been prevented by vaccines, such as measles, meningitis, and yellow fever, are on the rise globally due to the spread of misinformation and reduced international aid.

These three major international organizations urgently call on countries to continue investing political attention and funding to consolidate the achievements of immunization programs and safeguard the significant progress made globally in reducing child mortality rates over the past half century.

The latest monitoring data shows that since 2021, the number of measles cases has been increasing year by year. By 2023, the number of cases will reach 10.3 million, an increase of 20% compared to 2022. In the past 12 months, 138 countries have reported cases of measles, with 61 countries experiencing large-scale or destructive outbreaks. The number of meningitis cases in Africa is also significantly increasing, and the upward trend may continue until this year. In the first quarter of this year alone, 22 countries reported over 5500 suspected cases and 22 deaths. The number of yellow fever cases in Africa is also on the rise. Despite a sharp decline in the number of cases due to vaccination programs over the past decade, 12 countries reported 124 confirmed cases in 2024. Since the beginning of this year, four countries have reported 131 cases.

UNICEF President Katherine Russel stated that funding shortages are eroding the hard won global achievements in epidemic prevention, and the current global financial crisis is making it difficult for them to vaccinate over 15 million children in conflict areas against measles.

What is even more worrying is that the number of children who miss routine immunization continues to grow, with approximately 14.5 million children not receiving any basic vaccines in 2023, an increase of 600000 from 2022.

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization will hold a fundraising summit on June 25th, with the goal of raising $9 billion to build an immune barrier for 500 million children between 2026 and 2030.