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The Challenges
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© UNICEF / 2010 |
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Mothers and their babies waiting for a doctor's appointment in a local hospital in Central Asia. |
- The globalization of disease. With epidemics spreading faster and further, it is vital to sustain high immunization rates, but this requires large-scale, long-term commitment.
- Children falling through the net. Some children from hard-to-reach populations are never immunized – those in remote rural areas, the urban poor, minorities and children in conflict zones.
- Damage to public trust. Inaccurate reporting on occasional incidents related to vaccine quality and safety can undermine trust in immunization programmes. Rumours, perpetuated by ill-informed media, can cross borders, putting children at risk in any country.
- Injection safety. Vaccination with substandard injection safety in some countries can do more harm than good. Unsafe disposal of used needles and syringes can expose children to a host of health hazards.
- Child survival. Low immunization coverage and growing poverty and malnutrition in parts of the region, coupled with cuts in health spending, increase the risk of disease outbreak and child deaths.
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