Vaccines bring us closer to a healthier world

22 April 2021 – The last week of April each year we celebrate the World Immunization Week. This year, the celebration amid the COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that vaccines can bring us closer to a healthier, more prosperous world, where no one suffers or dies from a vaccine-preventable disease.

"Vaccines are one of the most effective public health interventions that have saved millions of lives over the years.This year, the importance of vaccination is clearer than ever. Safe and effective vaccines can be a game changer in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic," said Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.

In just the last 30 years, child deaths have decreased by over 50%, thanks in large part to vaccines. The close of 2020 marked the conclusion of the Decade of Vaccines – an initiative led by WHO and partners to increase access to new and underutilized vaccines and increase vaccination coverage to protect more children from life-threatening diseases. New vaccines introduced during this decade have protected hundreds of thousands children from pneumonia, diarrhoea and other childhood diseases.

Last year, in 2020, the 73rd World Health Assembly endorsed the Immunization Agenda 2030. This vision from WHO and its immunization partners calls for extending the benefit of vaccination across the life course as one of the strategic priorities in this new decade. Vaccinations are not only for children. They protect people of all ages. Thanks to science, we now have more vaccines to protect more people from more diseases. By 2030, we can achieve a world where everyone, everywhere, at every age fully benefits from vaccines for good health and well-being.

"In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, weak health systems, conflict, social barriers, and vaccine hesitancy remain serious challenges to vaccination. We are determined to overcome them and promote science for the benefit of everyone," said Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari.,

“Vaccines bring us closer” is the theme of this year’s World Immunization Week. With this slogan, WHO calls for working together to build trust in vaccines and to protect the health of every citizen. Collaborative work towards the Immunization Agenda 2030 is part of WHO’s vision of Health for All by All in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.