Vaccinations | Why France Is A Model In Child Protection

Vaccinations Child Protection
Vaccinations Child Protection

Despite declining vaccination coverage for children around the world, France continues to protect its children. Progress is still needed.

Vaccination decline for children around the world is historic: last July, the World Health Organization (WHO). And the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) issued an alert following a 5-point drop in the percentage of children. Who received a reference vaccine in the past two years. It is expected that new epidemic outbreaks of measles and poliomyelitis will emerge soon.

Despite a decade of progress in vaccination coverage. The Covid-19 crisis has disrupted health services and increased distrust of vaccinations in childhood. The most affected countries are low- and middle-income countries, but Europe is not exempt either.

The vaccination of children continues to progress in France in this context, which makes it a good student. Although the first confinement did lead to a reduction in injections, this effect has since been caught up and vaccination coverage has not decreased since the pandemic began, according to epidemiologist Laure Fonteneau, co-author of a study published last April by Public Health France, which presents updated French data for 2021.

Tens of millions of children are at risk from measles due to a lack of vaccination.

Contents Summary Listing

During infancy, ten injections are given:

Vaccination has been successfully demonstrated to prevent serious illnesses. But collective protection and the prevention of epidemics require minimum rates of coverage. As such, in 2018, vaccination requirements for children under two years of age were increased to include eight additional vaccines: pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae b, hepatitis B, meningococcus C, pneumococcus, measles, mumps, and rubella in addition to the existing vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, and polio.

Vaccinations

In particular, the vaccination schedule includes ten injections during childhood as well as reminders for children and adolescents. Young girls from the age of 11, as well as young boys since January 2021 – who are responsible for their transmission – are also encouraged to get vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, which cause cervix cancer.

Laure Fonteneau highlights that since 2018, vaccinations have become more commonplace both among affected children due to obligation and older generations. Although the north generally records a higher uptake rate in comparison to the south of the nation, this is not reflected in overseas departments. Statistics indicate an all-round surge in observance of vaccinations: public information about their effectiveness appears to have overpowered any “anti-vax” movements during the Covid-19 pandemic. Subsequently, vaccination coverage rates remain exceedingly elevated for endemic vaccines (DTP, whooping cough, etc.). To illustrate this point, nearly every single infant born in 2021 had been administered their initial dose.

Even though more and more people have utilized vaccinations between 2019 and 2021. The intent of receiving 95% complete immunization against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) at 33 months is still not fulfilled. These illnesses were once believed to be harmless, yet they may potentially bring about serious consequences – measles remains a major source of mortality globally. Vaccination rates against meningococcal C (which may lead to sepsis or meningitis) and human papillomavirus remain low, despite noteworthy advancement.

Numbers:

According to the number of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) vaccine doses administered between 2019 and 2021. Global childhood immunization coverage increased from 86% to 81% between those years. Consequently, 25 million children missed one or more of these basic vaccine doses in 2021. Nearly 40 million children have not received their first or second doses of measles vaccination.