Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep 30;224(12 Suppl 2):S452-S467.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiab284.

The World of Immunization: Achievements, Challenges, and Strategic Vision for the Next Decade

Ann Lindstrand  1 , Thomas Cherian  2 , Diana Chang-Blanc  1 , Daniel Feikin  1 , Katherine L O'Brien  1
Affiliations

The World of Immunization: Achievements, Challenges, and Strategic Vision for the Next Decade

Ann Lindstrand et al. J Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Immunization is among the most cost-effective public health interventions available and is estimated to have averted at least 37 million deaths between 2000 and 2019. Since the establishment of the Expanded Programme on Immunization in 1974, global vaccination coverage increased and the coverage gap between rich and poor countries decreased. Creation of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in 2000 allowed the poorest countries in the world to benefit from new, life-saving vaccines and expand the breadth of protection against an increasing number of vaccine-preventable diseases. Despite this progress, inequities in access to and uptake of vaccines persist. Opportunities to realize the full potential of vaccines are within reach but require focused, tailored and committed action by Governments and immunization stakeholders. The Immunization Agenda 2030 provides a framework for action during the next decade to attain a world where everyone, everywhere, at every age fully benefits from vaccines for good health and well-being.

Keywords: EPI; IA2030; challenges; decade; history; immunization; impact; overview; vaccines; vision.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Three doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP3) coverage by country income level, 1980 to 2019. World Health Organization United Nations Children’s Fund estimates of national immunization coverage.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Global numbers of child deaths preventable or partially preventable through vaccination, 1990–2017. Source: WHO, Global Health Observatory data, November 2018.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Three doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP3) coverage by World Health Organization (WHO) region, 1980 to 2019. Abbreviations of WHO regions: AFR, Africa; AMR, the Americas; EMR, Eastern Mediterranean; EUR, Europe; SEAR, South-East Asia; WPR, Western Pacific.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Number of children (in millions) younger than 2 years with 3 doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP3), dropout before DTP3, and unvaccinated with DTP1, by region 1980–2019. Abbreviations of World Health Organization regions: AFR, Africa; AMR, the Americas; EMR, Eastern Mediterranean; EUR, Europe; SEAR, South-East Asia; WPR, Western Pacific.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Changes in the breadth of vaccination coverage, 2000 to 2019. The global average coverage for 13 antigens provided through national immunization programs (World Health Organization United Nations Children’s Fund Estimates of National Immunization Coverage). Abbreviations: Hep B, hepatitis B; Hib, Haemophilus influenzae type b; HPV, human papilloma virus; IPV, inactivated polio vaccine; Pneumo, pneumococcus; Rota, rotavirus.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Trends in coverage with pneumococcal conjugate and rotavirus vaccines by country income levels and eligibility for Gavi support. Coverage in each country group is the product of the number of countries in the group that have introduced the vaccine and the coverage achieved nationally.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on routine childhood immunization. Relative difference between DTP3 doses administered in 2020–2021 and the similar time period in 2019 in 5 of the 6 WHO regions. Abbreviations: AFR, Africa; AMR, Americas; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; DTP3, 3 doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine; EMR, Eastern Mediterranean; SEAR, South-East Asia; WHO, World Health Organization; WPR, Western Pacific. Source: monthly administrative data on third dose of DTP administered reported to WHO as of 4 March 2021.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Miller MA, Hinman AR. Economic analysis of vaccine policies. In: Plotkin SA, Orenstein WA, Offit PA, eds. Vaccines. 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders, 2013:1413–26.
    1. Bloom DE. The value of vaccination. Adv Exp Med Biol 2011; 697:1–8. - PubMed
    1. Ozawa S, Clark S, Portnoy A, Grewal S, Brenzel L, Walker DG. Return on investment from childhood immunization in low- and middle-income countries, 2011–20. Health Aff (Millwood) 2016; 35:199–207. - PubMed
    1. Sim SY, Watts E, Constenla D, Brenzel L, Patenaude BN. Return on investment from immunization against 10 pathogens in 94 low- and middle-income countries, 2011–30. Health Aff (Millwood) 2020; 39:1343–53. - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. Immunization agenda 2030: a global strategy to leave no one behind.https://www.who.int/immunization/immunization_agenda_2030/en/. Accessed 15 September 2020.