Vaccine-Preventable Diseases

The burden of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs), diseases for which vaccination is recommended by national immunization programs, decreased significantly in the last decades but it is still high in low-middle income countries (LMICs), particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia. While vaccine coverage increased in LMICs, also thanks to the support of the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), it has declined in fully self-funded middle-income countries (MICs). Immunization is among the greatest advances in global health as, for over two centuries, vaccination programs have succeeded to reduce the burden of diseases like smallpox, polio, and measles. High and equitable vaccination coverage is essential to control/prevent and eliminate VPDs and vaccination is part of 14 of the 17 SDGs. The 2030 Agenda for Immunization was endorsed by all WHO member states in 2020 to achieve “a world in which everyone, everywhere, at every age, can fully benefit from vaccines to improve health and well-being.”