WHO recommends faster vaccine protection for children.

NEW DELHI: Nearly 2.7 million children in the Southeast Asia Region did not get any vaccine, and another 0.6 million children were partially vaccinated in 2023, the World Health Organisation said in the 15th Meeting of the WHO South-East Asia Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group.

This comes in as WHO called on countries in the region to accelerate action to protect all children with life-saving vaccines being offered under the childhood immunisation programme, focusing on those who have missed all or some vaccine doses, and protecting all adolescent girls from cervical cancer.

“We need to understand where and why these children were missed and prioritise reaching them as soon as possible. No child should ever fall sick or die of any vaccine-preventable disease when safe and effective vaccines exist to protect them,” said Saima Wazed, Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia.