Honourable Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin,
Honourable Minister Khumbize Chiponda,
Excellencies, Honourable Ministers, dear colleagues and friends,
Thank you, Honourable Ministers, and all of you for joining us this evening.
Vaccines are among the most powerful inventions in history.
Thanks to vaccines, smallpox has been eradicated, polio is on the brink, and many once-feared diseases can now be easily prevented, including measles, cervical cancer, yellow fever, pneumonia and diarrhoea.
With the recent development of vaccines against diseases like malaria, millions of more lives can be saved.
But only 50 years ago, in 1974, fewer than 5% of infants globally were vaccinated.
Millions died of diseases such as measles, polio and diphtheria.
That was the year WHO launched the Expanded Programme on Immunization, or EPI.
Today, about 84% of the world’s children have received three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis – diseases which were once a death sentence.
With smallpox, the world showed that through unprecedented global cooperation, vaccines could actually eradicate some diseases.
Building on that success, EPI supported countries to establish standardized vaccination programmes against smallpox and six other diseases: diphtheria, measles, pertussis, polio, tetanus and tuberculosis.
In the five decades since, every country has established an immunization programme, often with support from WHO, UNICEF, and our partners.
Now called the Essential Programme of Immunization, these programmes do far more than ever imagined 50 years ago.
The EPI programme helps millions of children, adolescents and adults access vaccines against 30 diseases.
A new study led by WHO estimates that the EPI has saved at least 154 million lives since 1974 – an average of more than 8,000 lives saved a day, for the past 50 years.
Thanks to immunization, a child born today is 40% more likely to see their first birthday than a child born 50 years ago.
This progress results from partnership – leaders, scientists, civil society, communities and families who have worked together to deliver on the dream of immunization for all. Thank you to all our partners here tonight.
But vaccines don’t deliver themselves. They require a person – and not just any person. So I say thank you to the health and care workers all over the world who ensure the promise of vaccines is realised.
Earlier today, the World Health Assembly approved the 14th General Programme of Work – GPW14 – our global health strategy for the next four years.
Today we also launched the new WHO Investment Case, which estimates that if fully funded, GPW14 could save 40 million lives over the next four years.
One of the main ways we can save those lives is through immunization.
The EPI is one of our best examples of what is possible when we invest in WHO, work in partnership and prioritize health for all.
WHO is committed to working with all of you to realise the power of vaccines for more people.
I would particularly like to acknowledge the very important role that Gavi plays in supporting access to vaccines around the world.
Just as we ask donors to fully fund the GPW, we also ask you to support Gavi’s replenishment later this year.
More than 14 million children in 2022 did not receive a single dose of vaccine. Working together with partners like Gavi and UNICEF, we aim to halve that number by 2030.
Tonight, we celebrate the incredible success of EPI over the past 50 years. It shows what is humanly possible.
With continued research, investment and collaboration, we can save millions more lives in the next 50 years, and beyond.
I thank you.