South Asia’s Immunization Milestone

Why in News?

According to new data recently released by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF for 2024, South Asia achieves record immunization coverage with India, Nepal leads progress.

• Historic Milestone - South Asia recorded its highest-ever immunization coverage for children in 2024, as per new WHO-UNICEF data.
• This achievement is seen as a major milestone in the region's fight against vaccine-preventable diseases.
• India Achievements - India reduced zero-dose children (those who have not received a single vaccine) by 43%, from 1.6 million (2023) to 0.9 million (2024).
  • Still, India accounts for 6.4% of global zero-dose children and nearly half of South Asia's zero-dose cases.
• Nepal Progress - Nepal achieved a 52% reduction in zero-dose children.
• Pakistan Updates - Pakistan recorded its highest-ever DTP3 coverage (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) at 87% in 2024.
• Afghanistan Setback - Afghanistan experienced the lowest immunization coverage show 1% decline in the region.
• DTP Vaccine
  • In South Asia, 92% of infants received the third dose of DTP in 2024 (up 2 percentage points from 2023).
  • First-dose DTP coverage increased from 93% to 95%, surpassing pre-COVID levels.
  • Zero-Dose Reduction - The region as a whole saw zero-dose children drop by 27% i.e. from 2.5 million (2023) to 1.8 million (2024).
• Measles Control
  • First dose of measles vaccine coverage reached 93%, and second dose 88% in 2024 (up from 90% and 87% in 2023).
  • Measles cases fell 39%, from over 90,000 (2023) to about 55,000 (2024).
  • Coverage still below the 95% threshold needed to prevent outbreaks.
• HPV Vaccine
  • HPV coverage for adolescent girls rose from 2% (2023) to 9% (2024) regionally.
  • Bangladesh vaccinated over 7.1 million girls since programmer launch in 2023.
  • Notable increases - Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka.
  • Nepal launched national HPV vaccination (Feb 2025), vaccinating over 1.4 million girls.
  • India rolled out plans for indigenous HPV vaccine developments in later year of 2024.
• Support systems -Progress driven by government investment, policy, frontline/community workers (many women), donor/partner support, digital tools, improved data and outreach programs.
• Remaining Gaps - Despite progress, 2.9 million children in South Asia remain under-vaccinated and are unprotected.
• Future recommendations - UNICEF and WHO urges for
  • Sustained political commitment.
  • Increased domestic immunization funding.
  • Intensive outreach for zero-dose and under-vaccinated children.
  • Reinforced disease surveillance systems.

Reference

The Hindu| South Asia’s Immunization Milestone