Vaccines saved at least 154 million lives in 50 years: WHO

That is the equivalent of six lives saved every minute of every year of thehalf century, the UN health agency said.
In a study published in the Lancet, WHO gave a comprehensive analysis ofthe impact of 14 vaccines used under the Expanded Programme on Immunisation(EPI), which celebrates its 50th anniversary next month.
Thanks to these vaccines, "a child born today is 40 percent more likely tosee their fifth birthday than a child born 50 years ago", WHO chief TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.
"Vaccines are among the most powerful inventions in history, makingonce-feared diseases preventable," he said.
"Smallpox has been eradicated, polio is on the brink, and with the morerecent development of vaccines against diseases like malaria and cervicalcancer, we are pushing back the frontiers of disease."
Infants accounted for 101 million of the lives saved through immunisationover the five decades, said the study.
"Immunisation was the single greatest contribution of any healthintervention to ensuring babies not only see their first birthdays but continueleading healthy lives into adulthood," WHO said.
- 'Vaccines cause adults' -
Over 50 years, vaccines against 14 diseases -- diphtheria, Haemophilusinfluenza type B, hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, measles, meningitis A,pertussis, invasive pneumococcal disease, polio, rotavirus, rubella, tetanus,tuberculosis, and yellow fever -- had directly contributed to reducing infantdeaths by 40 percent, the study found.
For Africa, the reduction in infant mortality was more than 50 percent, itsaid.
The vaccine against measles -- a highly contagious disease by a virus thatattacks mainly children -- had the most significant impact.
That jab accounted for 60 percent of the lives saved due to immunisation,according to the study.
The polio vaccine means that more than 20 million people are able to walktoday who would otherwise have been paralysed.
The study also showed that when a vaccine saves a child's life, that persongoes on to live an average of 66 years of full health on average -- with atotal of 10.2 billion full health years gained over the five decades.
"Vaccines cause adults," Tedros said.
WHO stressed that the gains in childhood survival showed the importance ofprotecting progress on immunisation.
It highlighted accelerating efforts to reach 67 million children who missedat least one vaccination during the Covid pandemic.
The UN health agency, along with the UN children's agency Unicef, the Gavivaccine alliance and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, on Wednesdaylaunched a joint campaign called "Humanly Possible".
It is aimed at scaling up vaccination programmes around the world.
"By working together we can save millions more lives, advance equity andcreate a much healthier and more prosperous world," Violaine Michell of theGates Foundation told journalists.
- Anti-vax threat -
But efforts to ensure broader vaccine coverage have increasingly run intoanti-vax movements and conspiracy theories circulating on social media.
This was particularly clear during the Covid pandemic, but it has alsotaken its tolls on efforts to avert measles outbreaks.
"There has been a very significant backsliding in the use of the measlesvaccine and the coverage that has been achieved in countries around the world,and that is resulting in outbreaks," WHO vaccine chief Kate O'Brien toldjournalists.
In 2022, the last year for which there are clear statistics, more than ninemillion measles cases were registered around the world, including 136,000children who died, reports BSS.
Lack of access to the vaccines was a major concern, said O'Brien, but partof the backsliding was attributable to "misinformation and anti-vax movements".
"The measles vaccine is a safe vaccine, and it's highly effective," sheinsisted, stressing the need to ramp up efforts against "one of the mostinfectious viruses that infect humans".