Diseases Prevention : Multiplying Vaccination Efforts

UNICEF has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that many more children are immunized by 2025. This will be achieved through the Zero-Dose Programme, which aims to ensure that no child is left unimmunised. It is recorded that in 2021, Cameroon had about 149,133 zero-dose children, that is, children who have not received any dose of the Pantavelent vaccine. The South West and North West regions had the highest rates of zero-dose children, at 31% and 24% respectively. Despite the challenges posed by insecurity and disruptions to health services, Cameroon has managed to maintain coverage for the first dose of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP1) at 75% between 2019 and 2022. Coverage for the third dose (DTP3) was 67% in 2019, rising slightly to 68% in 2022.
As a result, UNICEF's Zero Dose Programme is committed to reaching more than 600,000 zero-dose and under-immunised children in remote communities, deprived urban areas and insecure settings by December 2025. This was announced in Douala on 22 January 2025 during a meeting aimed at updating media professionals on the achievements of the past year, sharing priorities and challenges for the future, and reaffirming UNICEF's commitment to the protection and well-being of children. During the day's keynote presentation, Dr Molioun Fatima reiterated that they were determined to maintain neonatal tetanus elimination status and certification as a wild poliovirus-free country, break the cycle of measles, yellow fever and variant poliovirus epidemics, and maintain control of other vaccine-preventable diseases: diphtheria, pertussis, acute respiratory infections, acute infant diarrhea. Achieve measles, yellow fever, viral hepatitis B and cervical cancer elimination indicators b...