State of the world's vaccines and immunization (Third edition)

27 Oct 2009

Paul Chinnock

Source: WHO, UNICEF, World Bank (see original article or PDF of full report)

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Immunization rates are now at their highest ever and vaccine development worldwide is booming, says a new report from WHO, UNICEF and the World Bank. However, the report warns that access to vaccinations is still poor in many parts of the world; a funding gap leaves millions of children still at risk, particularly in the poorest nations and communities, where infectious diseases are most common.

The third edition of The State of the World’s Vaccines and Immunization reports that more infants are being immunized today than ever before – a record 106 million in 2008. Nevertheless, life-saving vaccines now common in wealthy countries, still do not reach the 24 million children who are most at risk. The report’s authors estimate that at least an additional $1 billion per year will be needed to ensure that new and existing vaccines are delivered to all children in the 72 poorest countries.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO said “The influenza pandemic draws attention to the promise and dynamism of vaccine development today. Yet it reminds us once again of the obstacles to bringing the benefits of science to people in the poorest nations. We must overcome the divide that separates rich from poor – between those who get life-saving vaccines, and those who don’t.”

The progress made against measles is cited as an example of the level of success that has been achieved. “Worldwide measles deaths fell by 74% between 2000 and 2007, and vaccinations played an important part in that decline,” said UNICEF’s Executive Director Ann Veneman. “Such progress must inspire new efforts to immunize children around the globe against life-threatening diseases.”

Progress and challenges

Part 1 of the 208-page report examines the impact of immunization on efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals, especially the goal to reduce deaths among children under five. It looks at the development and use of vaccines and at the safeguards that have been put in place to ensure their safety, efficacy, and quality. It sets out the progress and challenges in meeting the immunization-related global goals. It discusses both the cost of scaling up immunization coverage to meet these goals, and efforts to ensure that the achievements are sustainable in the long term. Finally, it looks beyond 2015 to likely changes in the immunization landscape.

Vaccination rates had for some years shown a downward trend. The reversal of that trend is attributed, in part, by the report to the efforts of developing countries, which have made good use of support from the GAVI Alliance – a vaccine-financing partnership that includes WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. However, the report notes that the cost of delivering vaccines to those that need them is an issue that is only partially solved by financing partnerships such as GAVI. Middle income countries are not eligible for GAVI assistance, yet they are home to thirty million children and two billion people, a large number of whom live on less than U$2 a day.

The report also notes that the global vaccine market has tripled over the last eight years, reaching more than US$ 17 billion in revenue. Significantly, manufacturers in developing countries are now meeting 86% of the global demand for “traditional vaccines”, such as those protecting against measles, whooping cough (pertussis), tetanus and diphtheria.

Part 2 of the report describes over 20 vaccine-preventable diseases and goes on to review progress since 2000 in efforts to protect populations against these diseases through the use of vaccines.

The report (in English) is freely available on line, as are executive summaries in the following languages:

Arabic
Chinese
English
French
Russian
Spanish.