Vaccination against polio, also known as infantile paralysis, in children under one year old improved in Brazil in 2023, according to Unicef, the United Nations agency that deals with childhood.
Of the 16 vaccines recommended for children, 13 had an increase in vaccination coverage, including polio, according to the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade.
These numbers were released this Tuesday (23).
Unicef carried out the survey based on data from the Ministry of Health. Last year, of the 2.4 million children born in Brazil, 150,000 did not receive the vaccine. In 2022, 243 thousand did not receive the first dose against polio.
The head of Health at Unicef in Brazil, Luciana Phebo, said that the country is on the right path, but it is necessary to take vaccination beyond health units.
“Also go beyond the walls, the limits of Health, of basic health units, to reach other spaces, where children and families are, often in greater vulnerability, such as schools, CRAS and other social facilities”.
The Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, said that family health and the active search for unvaccinated children should help complete the public’s immunization. She celebrated the improvement in numbers, after years of decline.
“The family’s health was weakened and, with that, along with all the denialism, especially in the last government, but which is still present. So, when we talk about a turnaround, it is a turnaround with a lot of struggle. It is a turning point that we should indeed celebrate.”
Nísia Trindade cited, among other childhood immunizations that improved coverage, vaccines against rotavirus, hepatitis A and yellow fever.
Tags: Brazil improves polio vaccination coverage
