Human generations have been facing multiple survival threats across the globe since the start of their settlement. Among them, health hazards and disease spread remained at the top of the list. With the immense struggle of decades and centuries, human beings found a way of survival in vaccines. Vaccines are specific agents that enhance an individual’s immunity against a specific disease and protect the respective individual. Vaccines are weak or inactive parts of any organism, which are called antigens. These antigens produce immunity against a specific disease in the body. Various international agencies and organizations such as UNO and WHO have tried hard to make the masses vaccinated in all the countries. For this purpose, Global Vaccine Action Plan 2011–2020 (GVAP) was one of the best initiatives (Hotez, 2019). Multiple factors such as wars, political instability in most countries, low confidence of the ruling elite, religious misinterpretation, doubts on vaccines, anti-vaccine movements, and incompetent role of civil society have become hurdles in achieving the global goals of vaccination, which breed severe impacts.
Undoubtedly, vaccination is a global need in the present circumstances, and at the state level, various factors impede this process. War and political instability have become hurdles in propagating vaccines at the international level in various areas. These lead to the discontinuation of policies health policies. However, another reason for this flaw lies in the low confidence and week decision power of the political elite of third-world countries. Resultantly, the vaccination process ceases with wicked circumstances. Hotez (2019) stated that millions of children are facing an acute shortage of life-saving vaccines around the globe despite efforts. Meanwhile, vaccine diplomacy had been badly affected due to misinterpretation of religious norms and the rise of anti-vaccine movements. Various other stakeholders make propaganda against the vaccination process in multiple world regions (Nnaji et al. 2020).
Moreover, civil society members do not play their effective role due to fundamentalists. The common masses in the third world countries are less educated and need guidance in this regard. But they are misguided by the respective stakeholders. The misinterpretation of religious teachings and norms have become a hindrance in achieving vaccination goals. Consequently, the masses, especially children, are badly affected due to ceased or slow vaccination processes around the globe. Similarly, despite the best possible ways to prepare, procure, protect, and transport vaccines, these countries and many other regions lack vaccines.
Meanwhile, the impacts of such discrepancies are life-lasting. The high death rates, disease spread, malnutrition among children, and disability among masses are steep effects due to lack of vaccination. The absence of vaccination at the childhood level badly affects the individual performance in later life. It is a certain fact that vaccines can only influence the lives of individuals if they reach the respective individual in time. Sustainable health can only be achieved by sustainable vaccination and immunization (Jensen et al., 2020). In this regard, the respective state governments have the utmost responsibility to create favourable circumstances for the vaccination process. The financial and administration issues on the part of states create bad lasting impacts in this regard. At the same time, the financial and delivery issues should be solved at priority to achieve a healthy society around the globe.
Hence, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that vaccination is a matter of life and death for the generations of human beings. Various challenges do exist in making the availability of vaccines possible to individuals in various countries. Incompetent political leadership, war episodes, the negative role of religious scholars, and anti-vaccine movements are leading factors for the absence of vaccination and immunization. The responsible actors leave indelible imprints on the life and health aspects of the masses. Various strategies should be adopted to tackle the situation at the individual, national and international levels. The need of the hour is to create such appropriate and feasible circumstances that the vaccination can be extendable to all the people around the globe.
References
Hotez, P. J. (2019). Immunizations and vaccines: a decade of successes and reversals, and a call for ‘vaccine diplomacy’. International health, 11(5), 331-333.
Jensen, K. J., Biering-Sørensen, S., Ursing, J., Kofoed, P. E. L., Aaby, P., & Benn, C. S. (2020). Seasonal variation in the non-specific effects of BCG vaccination on neonatal mortality: three randomized controlled trials in Guinea-Bissau. BMJ global health, 5(3), e001873.
Nnaji, C. A., Owoyemi, A. J., Amaechi, U. A., Wiyeh, A. B., Ndwandwe, D. E., & Wiysonge, C. S. (2020). Taking stock of global immunization coverage progress: the gains, the losses and the journey ahead. International health.
