The coronavirus pandemic disrupted vaccination campaigns for non-Covid diseases around the world, creating a “perfect storm” that could endanger the lives of millions of children, UNICEF said in a statement. World Health Organization (WHO). Measles is a disease caused by a virus that mainly affects children. The most serious complications include blindness, brain swelling, diarrhea and severe respiratory infections. Absorbing at least 95% of the vaccine is the best way to prevent it from spreading, although many countries are far from that goal – Somalia is only 46%, according to UN figures. Worldwide, more than 17,300 cases of measles were reported in January and February, up from about 9,600 in those months last year, according to new figures from the United Nations. There were 21 major and troublesome measles outbreaks in the 12 months to April, most of them in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, the data showed. Christopher Gregory, senior health consultant at Unicef ​​Vaccination, told AFP that because measles was “the most contagious disease that can be prevented with a vaccine”, it often served as a warning sign. “Measles is what we call a tracer, or the canary in the coal mine, that really shows us where these weaknesses in the immune system are,” he said. Yellow fever was among the diseases that could then increase, he said, following the increase in cases reported in West Africa. “We are particularly concerned about those countries that are more fragile, where health care systems are already really struggling, where they are still trying to cope with the effects of Covid beyond these outbreaks,” he said. Somalia has recorded by far the most measles cases in the last 12 months, with more than 9,000, according to UN figures, followed by Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Ethiopia – all countries experiencing some form of conflict. There are also fears that the war in Ukraine could spark a resurgence in the country as it recorded the highest measles rate in Europe between 2017 and 2019. Gregory said it was very difficult to keep track of any illness in Ukraine since the start of the war. adding that the biggest concern was “what we may be missing”. UN agencies say 57 vaccination campaigns in 43 countries that were postponed at the start of the pandemic had not yet been completed, affecting 203 million people – most of them children. Covid also continues to put pressure on healthcare facilities and divert staff and attention from vaccination for long-term deadly diseases. “The impact of these disruptions on vaccination services will be felt for decades to come,” WHO Tentro chief Antanom Gebregesus said in a statement. “Now is the time to get back to the real vaccines and start catch-up campaigns so that everyone has access to these life-saving vaccines.” Gregory said it was time to put childhood vaccination “at least on the same level of priority as ending the Covid vaccine.”