During this year’s World Immunisation Week, UNICEF has announced that vaccines have saved the lives of over 450 million children worldwide in the past 50 years.

UNICEF states that vaccines have significantly improved global health by preventing diseases such as polio, measles, and smallpox. In order to save more lives, UNICEF calls for increased funding and prioritisation of immunisation.

The diseases that can be prevented through vaccines include influenza, malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, and measles.

UNICEF emphasizes that vaccines are the only effective measure for disease prevention. World Immunisation Week, observed annually from April 24 to 30, aims to promote the use of vaccines and advocate for collective action to protect people of all ages from diseases.

This year’s theme is “Humanly Possible: Saving lives through immunization,” and it celebrates 50 years of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation.

Despite the efficacy of vaccines, approximately 2.2 million Nigerian children are not vaccinated every year, making Nigeria one of the countries with the highest number of unvaccinated children globally.

UNICEF calls for increased awareness on immunisation by government leaders, community and religious leaders, healthcare providers, and the media to ensure that no child is left behind. The purpose of World Immunisation Week is to emphasize the significance of vaccines.

The UNICEF health specialist stated ,“With this week, we can raise awareness on the diseases that vaccines can prevent and of course, continue to showcase the fact that vaccination is a public health triumph.

“It is the only single public health intervention that has been seen to prevent diseases. So, we want to focus on that and continue to raise awareness about vaccination.”

Agbo pointed out that the current celebration holds great significance, as it acknowledges the progress made over the past five decades in safeguarding the health of countless individuals by preventing diseases through vaccination.

“ This year in particular is quite strategic because of the theme – Humanly Possible: Saving lives through immunisation. And if you look at when we had the expanded programme on immunisation is exactly 50 years ago.  It just showcases the triumphs and achievements that we have made in the last 50 years.

“ So in 50 years alone, we have saved over 450  million lives just with vaccination, and that translates to one every 10 seconds which is a huge improvement.

“In these 50 years, we have eradicated smallpox. We have almost eradicated polio, we only have two countries that still have the wild polio virus’ ‘, she stated.

Regarding vaccination, the health specialist noted that many children are now surviving to the age of five, a stark contrast to the past when children would perish from diseases that could have been prevented through vaccines. Expanding on this, she mentioned,

“This one year that we want to showcase this achievement while continuing to amplify the voice that we still need to do more despite challenges around lack of awareness, vaccine hesitancy, and access to immunization services.”

Agbo emphasized the need for collaboration among various stakeholders, including the government, healthcare providers, partners, and the media, to enhance vaccination efforts and eliminate other vaccine-preventable diseases affecting people of all ages.

She stressed the importance of collective action to ensure that every child receives crucial vaccines, highlighting that vaccination is a shared responsibility that goes beyond just the government.

“When it comes to immunisation, it is not the responsibility of the government alone. That is why you always hear us talking about government, development partners, media, and also the community. Everything we do, we work with the community. It is a bottom-to-top approach”, she mentioned.

The government was urged by a UNICEF expert to invest more in immunisation services, highlighting the need for increased financial and resource allocations to enhance the delivery of these critical services.

She stressed the importance of resources in acquiring and distributing vaccines for children, emphasizing the significance of these supplies reaching the intended recipients.

She lauded the Federal Government for its active support of immunisation programs, noting its proactive stance in promoting these initiatives.

After the successful eradication of smallpox, the World Health Organization initiated the Expanded Programme on Immunisation in 1974, aiming to ensure universal access to life-saving vaccines for all children globally.

This initiative has since advanced into the Essential Programme on Immunisation, which focuses on fortifying vaccine programs, supply chains, and distribution networks to provide comprehensive vaccination coverage for all demographic groups.

Today, every nation has a national immunisation program, with vaccines recognized as a highly effective, cost-efficient, and successful public health intervention to prevent diseases and enhance public health.