The Argentine Pediatric Society (SAP) issued a strong warning of the historic decline in childhood vaccination coverage in the country, stressing that the health of girls, boys and adolescents is going through “one of the most severe crises in decades.”
The statement comes after analyzing official data from the National Ministry of Health and the Observatory of Childhood and Adolescence.
In its document, the authority expressed its “deep concern” about the re-emergence of dangerous diseases that were under control, and stated that seven deaths due to cockroaches had been recorded in recent months. Statistics indicate a decline in vaccination to levels that threaten herd immunity and encourage the resurgence of preventable diseases.
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Health and emergency specialist Eduardo Arellano, director of RCP Argentina, warned that the country faces a “fragile herd immunity scenario,” because current coverage “harms individual immunity and public health as a whole.” He also noted that this decline seriously affects children under 18 months, who are the group most at risk and who have the highest proportion of avoidable hospitalizations and deaths.
Arellano linked the situation to the dismantling of the Health Ministry’s immunization area over the past two years. Among the factors, he cited the cancellation of regional vaccination programs, the layoff of 2,600 essential workers – including vaccination, sexual health and antenatal monitoring teams – and the lack of new procurement: he stressed that the doses recently applied correspond to those obtained during the previous administration.
“Argentina has gone from one of the most complete vaccination schedules in the world, with 19 free and mandatory vaccines, to facing an outbreak and the return of diseases that were thought to have been eradicated,” the specialist said.