The latest World Health Organization (WHO) data on global immunization coverage show that 86% of the world’s children received the required 3 doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccines (DTP3) in 2015, a coverage level that has been sustained above 85% since 2010. As a result, the number of children who did not receive routine vaccinations has dropped to an estimated 19.4 million, down from 33.8 million in 2000, the WHO website reported. Countries such as Congo, Guatemala, Iraq, Mauritania, Philippines and South Sudan have experienced decline in coverage due to under-investments in national immunization programs, vaccine stock-outs, disease outbreak or military conflicts.
