Low rates of vaccinations for existing infectious diseases will compound the impacts of a COVID-19 outbreak in developing countries on Australia’s doorstep, ChildFund Australia warned today.
ChildFund Australia Health Advisor Tracy Yuen said many countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Timor-Leste, already have low rates of vaccination due to poor health infrastructure.
“The health systems in these nations are already struggling to treat and prevent diseases that have spread due to low vaccination rates. We saw an example of this during the measles outbreak in Samoa last year.
“We are also deeply concerned that while existing healthcare resources are redeployed to respond to the virus, so many of these countries will not be left with any capacity to continue offering many routine programs, like immunisation. In some countries right now, they have already been halted.
“It’s a double-edged sword. Existing low vaccination rates will compound the health impacts of the pandemic on people and health systems while, over the longer term, the consequences of COVID-19 mean that routine vaccination programs will be a low priority.”
Last week, the United Nations announced that polio vaccination campaigns have been suspended, and measles immunisation campaigns have stopped in at least 23 countries.
“The economic downturn will also have a major impact on health programming. Even when the risk of COVID-19 is behind us, the global recession will mean many countries just don’t have the funds for mass scale immunisation.
“In countries like PNG, health services are already stretched. When you add a new infectious disease – like COVID-19 – into the equation, the impact will be severe both in the short and longer-term.”
Seven of Australia’s leading international aid agencies are urging the Federal Government to include in their COVID-19 economic support package specific measures to help charities continue their life-saving work in the most vulnerable communities worldwide.
The organisations – CARE Australia, ChildFund Australia, Fred Hollows Foundation, Oxfam Australia, Plan International Australia, Save the Children Australia and World Vision Australia – said the not-for-profit sector was facing a perfect storm of falling revenue and unprecedented demand for their services fuelled by the pandemic.
The call comes at a time when international aid programs are even more vital, as developing countries face the risk of health systems being overwhelmed by the crisis.
Many international agencies are already adapting their work to deliver life-saving aid in response to the COVID-19 emergency, to protect people and reduce infection rates. So, we are deeply concerned about the impact of ceasing vital services at a time of unprecedented need – now more than ever, each person’s health is dependent on everyone else’s.
While we welcome the announcement of the government’s JobKeeper measures, which are now being developed, we call on the government and opposition to ensure large international aid agencies, which help millions of the most disadvantaged people – especially women and children, in Australia and overseas each year – are included in this support package.
We echo calls by the recently formed Charities Crisis Cabinet for greater support and flexible arrangements for the sector reliant on donations and grants, including:
- increasing the tax deduction for donations to registered charities to 150 per cent, reviewable after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic
- establishing a $750m Australian Charities Stabilisation Fund for charities registered with the ACNC to help to stabilise and manage cash flow as a result of COVID-19
- low- or no-interest loans over an initial 12-month period to help with liquidity, as most charities do not have the capacity to take on debt under loans
- lifting the cap for Fringe Benefit Tax exemptions/salary packaging for charities
Many organisations are facing a battle to survive as they contend with reduced donations from the public, while managing vastly increased workloads due to the pandemic. According to the Community Council for Australia, some of the nation’s strongest charities face losing between 20 and 40 per cent of their workforces, meaning the potential loss of up to 250,000 jobs.
Currently, Australian charities employ 1.26 million people, rely on more than 3.5 million volunteers, and contribute about 8 per cent of Australia’s gross domestic product – similar in scale to the resources sector.
We believe Australia’s role as a good neighbour and global citizen has never been more important and that charities such as ours are well placed to provide urgent hygiene and healthcare to limit the spread of coronavirus. That is why we are urging the government to work with us to limit the spread of the virus at home and in our region.
Australia’s international aid agencies are committed to standing by fellow Australians and our international neighbours, and to continue our crucial work of supporting communities. But we also need the Australian Government to stand by us in this time of a global crisis.
