Immunization achievements in South-East Asia: the platform for measles elimination

Overview

The World Health Organization’s South-East Asia Region is extremely varied. It has 11 countries, from small island nations to the most densely populated. It encompasses a quarter of the world’s population. Nearly 37 million children are born every year in this Region. Making sure that safe and affordable vaccines reach those who need them most in difficult terrain, through inclement weather, during natural disasters, turmoil and often with limited resources is not an easy task. It is to the credit of Member States that despite challenges on the ground, remarkable feats have been achieved in the past decade, dramatically transforming the Region’s immunization landscape.

Some countries had a head start with long-standing high immunization coverage. Others needed more time but have worked hard in recent years to ensure that vaccines reach every child. In 2005, 27 million infants had received three doses of diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus vaccine which we use as a marker of a quality immunization system. In 2015, that number had gone up to 32.2 million. This has been possible because countries showed determination and political will, and due to the unflinching commitment of countless health-care workers working at the community level who walked long distances, climbed mountains and negotiated difficult circumstances to get a vital vaccine to a child or a woman in time