The World Health Organisation said on Wednesday that, during the last 50 years, global immunisation campaigns had prevented at least 154 million deaths, with babies accounting for the majority of those who have benefited.

According to the UN health organisation, that is the equivalent of six lives saved every minute of every year of the previous 50 years.

WHO provided a thorough examination of the effects of 14 vaccinations used during the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), which will mark its 50th anniversary next month, in a research published in the Lancet.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of WHO, told reporters that "a child born today is 40 percent more likely to see their fifth birthday than a child born 50 years ago" because to these immunisations.

"Vaccines are among the most powerful inventions in history, making once-feared diseases preventable," he stated.

"Smallpox has been eradicated, polio is on the brink, and with the more recent development of vaccines against diseases like malaria and cervical cancer, we are pushing back the frontiers of disease."

According to the report, 101 million of the lives saved by immunisation over the course of five decades were that of infants.

"Immunisation was the single greatest contribution of any health intervention to ensuring babies not only see their first birthdays but continue leading healthy lives into adulthood," the World Health Organisation stated.

"Vaccines cause adult diseases"

A study conducted over 50 years found that vaccinations against 14 diseases, including rotavirus, rubella, tetanus, tuberculosis, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, measles, meningitis A, pertussis, invasive pneumococcal disease, polio, and diphtheria, had directly contributed to a 40 percent reduction in infant deaths.

According to the report, infant mortality in Africa has decreased by more than 50%.

The biggest influence was from the vaccination against measles, a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that primarily affects youngsters.

Based on the analysis, that vaccination was responsible for 60% of the lives that were spared.

More than 20 million people who would have been crippled are now able to walk thanks to the polio vaccination.

According to the study, a kid who receives a vaccination and survives is likely to live an average of 66 years in full health, or 10.2 billion complete health years, over the course of five decades.

Tedros stated, "Vaccines cause adults."

WHO emphasised that improvements in childhood survival demonstrated the need of preserving immunisation advances.

It emphasised stepping up efforts to reach the 67 million kids who were not vaccinated against the Covid epidemic at least once.

The Gavi vaccination alliance, the UN health agency, the UN children's agency Unicef, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and others together launched the "Humanly Possible" campaign on Wednesday.

Its goal is to increase immunisation campaigns on a global scale.

Violaine Michell of the Gates Foundation told reporters, "By working together we can save millions more lives, advance equity, and create a much healthier and more prosperous world."

-Menace of anti-vax-

However, attempts to guarantee more widespread vaccination coverage have come up against social media conspiracy theories and anti-vax movements more frequently.

This was most evident during the Covid pandemic, but attempts to stop measles epidemics have also suffered as a result of it.

Kate O'Brien, the head of the World Health Organization's vaccination programme, told reporters, "There has been a very significant backsliding in the use of the measles vaccine and the coverage that has been achieved in countries around the world, and that is resulting in outbreaks."

Over nine million measles cases were reported worldwide in 2022—the latest year for which precise numbers are available—with 136,000 paediatric fatalities.

O'Brien stated that while the lack of vaccination access was a serious worry, "misinformation and anti-vax movements" were also responsible for some of the regression.

She emphasised the need to step up efforts against "one of the most infectious viruses that infect humans" and underlined that the measles vaccination is safe and extremely effective.

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