Immunization saves millions of lives and is widely recognized as one of the world most successful and cost-effective health intervention. Yet, there are more than 19 million unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children in the world, putting them at serious risk of these potentially fatal diseases.
World Immunization Week, celebrated in the last week of April, aims to highlight the collective action needed to ensure that every person is protected from vaccine-preventable diseases.
Theme of World Immunization Week
This year’s theme: “Protected Together, #VaccinesWork”, encourages people at every level, from donors to the general public, to go further in their efforts to increase immunization coverage for the greater good.
Official Date:
April 24th-30th, 2018
Objectives
The World Immunization Week 2018 aims to stimulate further action to immunize the world, with a particular focus on spotlighting the role that everyone can play in this effort, from donors to individuals, and to highlight the importance of immunization and the remaining gaps in global coverage, underscore the value of vaccines to target donor countries and the importance of investing in immunization efforts.
Action Plan
The Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) aims to prevent millions of deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases by 2020 through universal access to immunization. Despite improvements in individual countries and a strong global rate of new vaccine introduction, all target countries in the GVAP for disease elimination, including measles, rubella, and maternal and neonatal tetanus, are behind schedule. In order for everyone, everywhere to survive and thrive, countries must make more concerted efforts to reach GVAP goals by 2020.
The Importance of Immunization
Expanding access to immunization is crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Routine immunization is a building block of strong primary health care and universal health coverage—it provides a point of contact for health care at the beginning of life and offers every child the chance at a healthy life from the start.
Immunization is also a fundamental strategy in achieving other health priorities, from controlling viral hepatitis, to curbing antimicrobial resistance, to providing a platform for adolescent health and improving antenatal and newborn care.
International Theme