The Public Health Core Tables reveal that:
- There has been a minor decrease in the infant and neo-natal mortality rates between 2022 and 2023. With the rates falling from 4.3 to 4 and 3.5 to 2.9 respectively.
- In 2023/24 the uptake of the 6-in-1 vaccine fell to 91.8%, a 1.4% decrease from 2022/23. This is below the WHO recommendation of 95%.
- The uptake of the MMR 1 vaccine dropped between 2022/23 and 2023/24, falling from 91% to 89.3% by age 2 and from 94.2% to 93.3% by age 5. For MMR 2, the uptake fell from 87.9% to 85.6% by age 5.
RCPCH Officer for Ireland, Dr Thomas Bourke said:
A country’s infant mortality rate is a key indicator of the social, economic and environmental conditions in which children and families live, as well as their access to high quality and timely health care. The College notes the decreases in the infant and neo-natal mortality rates between 2022 and 2023 respectively, but despite this change the overall rates remain unacceptably high. We continue to welcome the PH agency’s work toward inclusion of Northern Ireland in the Neo-natal Audit and call on the Executive to create a functioning child death overview process to better understand and learn from the information it generates.
It is particularly disheartening to see that there has been a further drop in essential vaccines in the under 5 age group. As a paediatrician, I worry about the yet-to-be-seen consequences of our ongoing failure to meet WHO coverage standards. It is essential to maintain efforts in ensuring an adequate workforce and resources ae in place to provide both information about and access to vaccinations, while addressing and overcoming any barriers to accessibility.