In celebration of World Immunisation Week 2024 (24th-30th April) WHO is urging collective action to ensure that everyone benefits from the life-saving power of vaccines. It also shared an estimate that global immunisation efforts over the past 50 years have saved “at least 154 million lives”. Suggesting that the global vaccine drives of the latter half of the 20th century are “one of humanity’s greatest achievements”, WHO calls on the health community to improve vaccine coverage.
So much achieved
WHO marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) in 2024, stating that this celebration recognises “collective efforts to save and improve countless”. However, it calls on countries to “ramp up investments in immunisation programmes, the likes of which have enabled the eradication of smallpox and “nearly” defeated polio.
“In just 5 decades we went from a world where the death of a child was something many parents feared, to a world where every child – if vaccinated – has a chance to survive and thrive.”
When it was established in 1974, the EPI sought to protect children against 6 childhood illnesses. Since then, the number has grown to 13 universally recommended vaccines across the life-course and 17 additional vaccines with context-dependent recommendations. It is now commonly known as the “Essential Programme on Immunisation”.
Pandemic problems
While the wider historical context shows improvement, recent progress has “slipped”, largely due to the pandemic. WHO states that “while more than 4 million more children were vaccinated” across the globe in 2022 compared to 2021, there were still 20 million children who missed “one of more” of their vaccines.
“Growing conflicts, economic downturns, and rise in vaccine hesitancy are some of the threats to efforts to reach these children.”
Consequently, global outbreaks of diphtheria and measles are being observed; these are diseases that were previously “nearly in hand”.
“While global vaccine coverage is good – with 4 out of 5 kids covered – we have more to do.”
WHO’s demands
WHO seeks to bring the power of vaccines to everyone by:
- Advocating for vaccines to be an integral part of the planning and investment of health care across the life course
- Making sure vaccination programmes are adequately financed and resourced in all countries
- Accelerating research and innovation that advances access to, and support for, vaccines
- Speaking out on the impact of vaccinations locally, nationally, and globally
A new study
WHO also shares that a new study in The Lancet reveals that global immunisation efforts have saved an “estimated 154 million lives”. This is equivalent to “6 lives every minute of every year” for the past 50 years. Most of these lives – 101 million – were infants. The study reportedly reveals that “immunisation is the single greatest contribution of any health intervention to ensuring babies not only see their first birthdays but continue leading healthy lives into adulthood”.
The study considers 14 pathogens targeted by EPI (diphtheria Haemophilus influenzae type B, hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, measles, meningitis A, pertussis, invasive pneumococcal disease, polio, rotavirus, rubella, tetanus, tuberculosis, and yellow fever), looking at coverage of all routine and supplementary vaccines delivered since 1974. Of all the vaccines included, measles vaccinations had the greatest effect on reducing infant mortality, accounting for 60% of lives saved due to immunisation.
“Forecasting suggests that measles vaccination will remain the preeminent intervention that will maximise lives saved well into the future.”
Other findings include the fact that vaccination against the 14 diseases has “directly contributed” to reducing infant deaths by 40% globally and over 50% in the African Region. For each life saved through immunisation, an average of 66 years of full health were gained, with a total of 10.2 billion full health years gained over these five decades. Polio vaccinations have enabled more than 20 million people, who would have otherwise been paralysed, to walk. WHO is hopeful that we are “on the verge of eradicating polio”.
Fighting once-feared diseases
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus commented on the revelations in the study, remarking that “vaccines are among the most powerful inventions in history, making once-feared diseases preventable”.
“Thanks to vaccines, smallpox has been eradicated, polio is on the brink, and with the more recent development of vaccines against diseases like malaria and cervical cancer, we are pushing back the frontiers of disease.”
The Director-General is optimistic that “continued research, investment, and collaboration” will enable us to save “millions more lives” in the next 50 years.
Other organisations weigh in
UNICEF, one of the largest buyers of vaccines in the world, secures over 2 billion doses of essential vaccines to reach “almost half of the world’s children”. Executive director Catherine Russell is pleased that “more children now survive and thrive past their fifth birthday than at any other point in history”.
“This massive achievement is a credit to the collective efforts of governments, partners, scientists, healthcare workers, civil society, volunteers, and parents themselves, all pulling in the same direction of keeping children safe from deadly diseases.”
Now is the time to “build on the momentum” to ensure that “every child, everywhere, has access to life-saving immunisations”. Also quoted by WHO is Dr Sania Nishtar, who recently assumed post as CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Gavi provides vaccines against 20 infectious diseases and seeks to expand the effects of EPI and help all countries increase coverage.
“Gavi was established to build on the partnership and progress made possible by EPI, intensifying focus on protecting the most vulnerable around the world. In a little over two decades, we have seen incredible progress.”
Dr Nishtar believes that “vaccines are truly the best investment we can make” to protect the right of everyone to a “healthy future”.
Humanly possible
The campaign for 2024’s World Immunisation Week is “humanly possible”, a joint campaign launched by WHO, UNICEF, Gavi, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This campaign demands that world leaders “advocate, support, and fund” immunisation programmes.
Dr Chris Elias, president of Global Development at the Gates Foundation, is inspired by what vaccines have achieved in the last 50 years.
“We cannot let his incredible progress falter. By continuing to invest immunisation, we can ensure that every child – and every person – has the chance to live a healthy and productive life.”
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