“While we do not have active Polio cases in the region, recent cases in Israel and Malawi are a dire warning of threat we could face if we do not recover coverage levels soon,” PAHO posted on Twitter. “Coverage against Polio, measles and rubella, diphtheria, and other childhood diseases had declined even before Covid-19.

We have backed off nearly three decades of progress in polio and measles, going back to the same levels of vaccination we had in 1994, PAHO regretted.

Polio vaccination, which prevents cervical cancer in young women and girls, has also stalled throughout the region due to school closures, PAHO stated.

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