WHO: Increased Immunization by 2020 Could Save 1.5-M Lives

MANILA, April 25 — The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on parents, health care workers, and policymakers to work together to ensure that every child in every country gets the vaccines he/she needs.

“Increased immunization coverage and ensuring that all children are fully immunized by 2020 could save an additional million-and-a-half lives globally,” Dr. Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, said Tuesday.

According to the agency, more than 2 million children in the Western Pacific region still have no regular access to immunization annually, despite the known benefits of vaccines in preventing infectious diseases, among them hepatitis, diphtheria, tetanus, measles, and polio.

The WHO further revealed that 2.3 million children in the region each year are not fully immunized against such health threats.

“These figures are alarming. No child should die from a preventable disease,” Shin said in a statement for “World Immunization Week” on April 24-30.

He further noted that access to vaccines remains limited for informal settlers, people living in remote locations, those displaced by natural or man-made disasters, and nomadic populations.

“Uneven immunization coverage across countries and at sub-national levels continues to be an issue, leaving some groups unvaccinated,” Shin said, adding that policymakers must put in place all the necessary information and funding for immunization programs.

The WHO celebrates “World Immunization Week” during the last week of April to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease. According to the WHO, there are some 19.4 million unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children across the world. (Leilani S. Junio/PNA/Infographics from WHO)

(Source: PNA.gov.ph)