The United Nations Children Agency, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization, W.H.O., have raised an alarm that millions of children are at risk of not being vaccinated against polio and measles because of the coronavirus, especially in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation.
The agencies issued a joint statement on Wednesday in Abuja, saying it is essential to address the global COVID-19 pandemic, but other deadly diseases, such as polio and measles, also threaten the lives of millions of children in some of the poorest parts of the world.
The two organizations say there has been “a global resurgence of measles with epidemics under way in all regions of the world in recent years.”
Gaps in immunization coverage have been further exacerbated in 2020 by COVID-19. The world agencies have called for “urgent action” by global donors and policymakers.