World Immunization Week 2019

World Immunization Week, 24–30 April 2019, is an opportunity to recall how immunization helps keep people of the Western Pacific Region safe and healthy and to raise awareness of the need to continue being protected together.

Vast progress but fragile gains

Immunization saves millions of lives every year and it is widely recognized as one of the world’s most successful and cost-effective health interventions. Through immunization, all 37 countries and areas of the Region are free of wild polio. Maternal and neonatal tetanus has been eliminated in all but one country. Measles has been eliminated in 9 countries and rubella in 5. Nineteen countries have been verified as having new generations free from hepatitis B. Overall, mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases has gone down 80% since 2000.

But these achievements are fragile. With some people and communities still missing out on immunization, these diseases can come back.

Every year, about 27 million children, or 97% of those living in the Region, receive basic vaccines. But coverage is uneven between and within countries. More than 3 million children—or about 1 in every 10 children—live in districts where immunization coverage is less than 80%. This creates a high risk for vaccine-preventable diseases to spread. Immunization gaps in any community are a risk for all communities.

Last year, almost two decades after Papua New Guinea was declared polio-free, an outbreak left 26 children paralysed.

After a record low number of measles cases in 2017, the Region is seeing a resurgence of measles in 2018 and 2019, with a large, prolonged outbreak in the Philippines and smaller scale outbreaks in at least 10 other countries in the Region, including some which had previously achieved measles elimination.

In recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, older children and young adults are increasingly affected, showing the importance of vaccination among different age groups.

Recent studies show worrisome levels of vaccine hesitancy. Ensuring people have confidence in vaccines is becoming a priority in the Region. WHO identified vaccine hesitancy as one of the “Ten threats to global health in 2019”.

The theme of World Immunization Week 2019 Protected Together: Vaccines Work! aims to raise awareness about the importance of full immunization throughout life and urge greater action. The campaign emphasizes the role and responsibility of everyone—policymakers, health workers, and individuals—in closing the immunization gap to protect children and broader communities.

In addition, the campaign will celebrate Vaccine Heroes—from parents to community members, health workers and innovators—who help ensure we are all protected through the power of vaccines.