There is a great irony, which underscores India’s battle against preventable childhood diseases: although we are the number-one producer of vaccines, we are also a primary exporter of these vaccines to other (mainly Western) nations. In essence, we are helping to protect the lives of the world’s children while our children continue to die well before their time. According to World Bank statistics reported in The New York Times, our nation has fought hard to bring our child mortality rates down from 2.5 million deaths of children under the age of 5 in 2001 to approximately 1.5 million deaths in 2012; however, India continues to make up at least 20 percent of child deaths globally with a child mortality rate of 56 deaths per 1000 (the United States is 7 per 1000).
One major cause of our high child mortality rates stems from a lack of compliance with the established vaccine schedule. It has long been documented that a consistent schedule of vaccines that combat diseases such as Diphtheria, Measles, Polio, and the Rotavirus helps to ensure both the health of children as well as the general population, including those (such as the very young and those with compromised immune systems) who are especially vulnerable to contagious diseases. Recent research suggests that less than 44 percent of children in India follow the government’s recommended vaccine schedule, a figure that is only marginally better than the 42 percent of children who received their full schedule of vaccines in 1998. Indeed, the more than 9.6 million unimmunized children in our nation make up more than one-third of the world’s 27 million unimmunized children. India’s vaccine deficit can be attributed to causes such as a lack of public awareness, the influence of anti-vaccine propaganda, and a failure on the part of the government to truly invest in the challenge of eradicating childhood diseases.
Researchers Laxminarayan and Ganguly suggest that the government’s extreme emphasis on polio eradication has come at the expense of other, equally important, childhood diseases, and recommend that we increase the funds that are earmarked for routine vaccinations. Funding increases would improve the quality of our vaccination centers and allow for revamped education programs that target parents in both urban and rural areas. Indeed, if government agencies can begin to work in tandem with health care providers, schools, and other public agencies, we may increase the likelihood that all parents, everywhere, will fully understand the gravity of the situation and the need to vaccinate their children on a regular schedule. Certainly, vaccine adherence is not the only step necessary to tackle India’s child mortality rate, but it is certainly an important component that will ultimately save millions of lives throughout our nation.