Vaccines Save At Least 154 Million Lives In 50 Years: WHO
Global immunisation efforts have saved at least 154 million lives in the past 50 years, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, adding that most of those to benefit were infants
The World Health Organization announced on Wednesday that global immunization efforts have resulted in saving at least 154 million lives over the past 50 years. The majority of those saved were infants.
This translates to approximately six lives saved every minute, throughout each year of the past half-century, according to the UN health agency.
In a study published in The Lancet, WHO provided a thorough analysis of the impact of 14 vaccines administered as part of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), which commemorates its 50th anniversary next month.
“Vaccines are among the most powerful inventions in history, making once-feared diseases preventable,” stated WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Thanks to vaccines, smallpox has been eradicated, polio is on the brink, and with the more recent development of vaccines against diseases like malaria and cervical cancer, we are pushing back the frontiers of disease,” he added.
“With continued research, investment, and collaboration, we can save millions more lives today and in the next 50 years.”
The study revealed that infants accounted for 101 million of the lives saved through immunization over the course of five decades.
“Immunization was the single greatest contribution of any health intervention to ensuring babies not only see their first birthdays but continue leading healthy lives into adulthood,” emphasized WHO.
Over 50 years, vaccines against 14 diseases—diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B, hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, measles, meningitis A, pertussis, invasive pneumococcal disease, polio, rotavirus, rubella, tetanus, tuberculosis, and yellow fever—directly contributed to reducing infant deaths by 40 percent, the study found.
For Africa, the reduction in infant deaths was even more significant, surpassing 50 percent, as per the study’s findings.
The vaccine against measles—a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that primarily affects children—had the most profound impact. This vaccine alone accounted for 60 percent of the lives saved due to immunization, according to the study.
Furthermore, the polio vaccine has enabled more than 20 million individuals to walk today who would have otherwise been paralyzed.
The study also highlighted that when a vaccine saves a child’s life, that individual goes on to live an average of 66 years in full health—resulting in a total of 10.2 billion full health years gained over the five decades.
“These gains in childhood survival highlight the importance of protecting immunization progress,” emphasized WHO, underscoring the urgency of accelerating efforts to reach the 67 million children who missed at least one vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic.
