National immunization programmes in the Region have achieved remarkable successes over the last decade.

New vaccines have been introduced into national immunization programmes, resulting in 69 additions to immunization schedules in the Region.

More than 470 million children have been vaccinated against measles through supplementary immunization activities, and several countries are making progress towards eliminating measles.

During the last two decades:

2.5 million lives were saved by measles vaccine

During the last decade:

138 million infants received routine immunization

A lot of work still needs to be done to fill the immunization gap. As many as 3.1 million children remain unvaccinated or under-vaccinated in the Region, and outbreaks of measles and diphtheria have been reported in some countries.