The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that over the past 50 years, vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives, as ordinary people chose to protect themselves, their children, and their communities from diseases like measles, diphtheria, pertussis, polio, and rotavirus.
WHO made the statement on Friday as World Immunisation Week, running from April 24 to 30, begins.
During the week, WHO and partners are highlighting the benefits of vaccines at every stage of life, as well as the scientific breakthroughs that have led to effective inoculations against malaria, HPV, cholera, dengue, meningitis, RSV, Ebola, and mpox.
This year marks the midpoint of Immunisation Agenda 2030, a global initiative led by WHO to ensure that everyone can benefit from life-saving vaccines.
A report assessing progress found that, despite unprecedented challenges—including the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical instability, climate disruption, and limited financing—immunisation efforts over the past five years have averted millions of deaths.
However, most targets remain off track, with persistent gaps in routine coverage, equity, and outbreak prevention across many countries.
The UN health agency is calling for renewed commitments to build more sustainable national programmes, stronger integration with primary healthcare, and greater prioritization from global health agencies and partners.
On Friday, WHO, together with UNICEF and GAVI, announced that The Big Cath-up, an international effort to address vaccination declines driven largely by the COVID-19 pandemic, has reached an estimated 18.3 million children aged one to five across 36 countries since its launch in 2023.
The campaign has also provided 23 million doses of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) to unvaccinated and undervaccinated children, a key step toward polio eradication. The initiative is forecasted to meet its target of vaccinating at least 21 million children.
