World Immunization Week 2025
Immunization for All is Humanly Possible
Vaccines are one of the humanity’s greatest achievements. Over the last 50 years, essential vaccines have saved 154 million lives, including 25 ,illion lives in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Vaccines account for 40% of the improvement in infant survival over the last half century, enabling more children than ever before to celebrate their first birthday
Despite these significant gains, progress has stalled. In 2023, 14.5 million children worldwide didn’t receive any routine vaccine dose, including nearly 3 million children in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
Inequities, conflict, misinformation and funding gaps continue to undermine immunization efforts, leaving millions vulnerable
To meet the goal of universal access to lifesaving vaccines by 2030 will require substantial investments in immunization programmes.
Immunization programmes not only protect children. They safeguard people of all ages, from pregnant women to grandparents. Vaccines can prevent over 30 infections across the life course, including life-threatening diseases like pneumonia, flu and cervical cancer.
Childhood vaccination programmes such as those for polio and measles save young lives while immunization for adults, including for influenza and pneumococcus, helps ensure people live longer and healthier.
Global health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and the resurgence of polio in conflict zones make renewed focus on immunization more urgent than ever, and the introduction of new vaccines for malaria, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human papillomavirus (HPV) has expanded the opportunity to protect more people globally.