Importance of immunization programmes

Each year, vaccines prevent 2 to 3 million deaths every year. An additional 1.5 million deaths could be avoided, however, if global vaccinationVaccinationInoculation with a vaccine for the purpose of inducing immunity. coverage improves.²

Why are vaccines so special?

• Vaccines promote health: unlike many other health interventions, they help healthy people stay healthy, removing a major obstacle to human development.
• Vaccines have an expansive reach: they protect individuals, communities, and entire populations (the eradicationEradicationThe complete and permanent worldwide reduction to zero new cases of an infectious disease through deliberate efforts; no further control measures are required. of smallpoxSmallpoxAn acute, highly infectious, often fatal disease caused by a variola virus and characterized by high fever and aches with subsequent widespread eruption of pimples that blister, produce pus, and form pockmarks. Declared eradicated by the World Health Assembly in 1980. is a case in point).
• Vaccines have rapid impact: the impact of most vaccines on communities and populations is almost immediate. For example, between 2000 and 2017, vaccination reduced global deaths from measlesMeaslesA contagious viral disease marked by fever, the eruption of red circular spots on the skin that can be deadly to young and weakened individuals. by 80% worldwide (preventing an estimated 21.1 million deaths).³
• Vaccines save lives and costs: every dollar spent on childhood immunizations yields US$44 in economic benefits. These include savings on medical costs and productivity loss.⁴