Nairobi: Immunization efforts are under growing threat as misinformation, population growth, humanitarian crises, and funding cuts jeopardize progress, leaving millions of children, adolescents, and adults at risk. This warning comes from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and Gavi during World Immunization Week, which begins April 24 and ends on April 30, 2025.
According to Kenya News Agency, outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, meningitis, and yellow fever are rising globally, and diseases like diphtheria, which have long been held at bay or virtually disappeared in many countries, are at risk of re-emerging. In response, the agencies are calling for urgent and sustained political attention and investment to strengthen immunization programmes and protect significant progress achieved in reducing child mortality over the past 50 years.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that despite vaccines saving more than 150 million lives over the past five decades, funding cuts to global health have put these hard-won gains in jeopardy. “Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases are increasing around the world, putting lives at risk and exposing countries to increased costs in treating diseases and responding to outbreaks,” he noted. Dr. Tedros further stressed that countries with limited resources must invest in the highest-impact interventions, including vaccines.
There are rising outbreaks and strained health systems, with measles making a comeback, and the number increasing year on year since 2021. Cases reached an estimated 10.3 million in 2023, a 20 percent increase compared to 2022. The agencies warn that this upward trend likely continued into 2024 and 2025, as outbreaks have intensified around the world. In the past 12 months, 138 countries have reported measles cases, with 61 experiencing large or disruptive outbreaks, the highest number observed in any 12-month period since 2019.
Meningitis cases in Africa, according to WHO, have also risen sharply in 2024, and the upward trend has continued into 2025, with the first three months of this year alone reporting more than 5,500 suspected cases and nearly 300 deaths in 22 countries. Yellow fever cases in the African region are also climbing, with 124 confirmed cases reported in 12 countries in 2024, following dramatic declines over the past decade enabled by global vaccine stockpiles and the use of the yellow fever vaccine in routine immunization programmes.
A recent WHO rapid stocktake with 108 country offices, mostly in low- and lower-middle-income countries, indicates that nearly half of those countries are facing moderate to severe disruptions to vaccination campaigns, routine immunization, and access to supplies due to reduced donor funding. At the same time, the number of children missing routine vaccinations has been increasing in recent years, even as countries make efforts to catch up with children who missed them during the pandemic. In 2023, an estimated 14.5 million children missed all of their routine vaccine doses, up from 13.9 million in 2022 and 12.9 million in 2019.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell highlighted that the global funding crisis is severely limiting their ability to vaccinate over 15 million vulnerable children in fragile and conflict-affected countries against measles. “Immunization services, disease surveillance, and the outbreak response in nearly 50 countries are already being disrupted with setbacks at a similar level to what we saw during COVID-19. We cannot afford to lose ground in the fight against preventable diseases,” she added.
Joint efforts by WHO, UNICEF, Gavi, and partners have helped countries expand access to vaccines and strengthen immunization systems through primary health care, even in the face of mounting challenges. Every year, vaccines save nearly 4.2 million lives against 14 diseases, with nearly half of these lives saved in the African region.
The progress in immunization also includes increases in global coverage of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, particularly in the South-East Asia Region, alongside introductions in Chad and Somalia, countries with high disease burdens. Another milestone is the sub-national introduction of malaria vaccines in nearly 20 African countries, laying the foundation to save half a million additional lives by 2035 as more countries adopt the vaccines and scaling up accelerates as part of the tools to fight malaria.
In a call to action, UNICEF, WHO, and Gavi have urgently called for parents, the public, and politicians to strengthen support for immunization by emphasizing the need for sustained investment in vaccines and immunization programmes. They have also urged countries to honour their commitments to the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030). Immunization is recognized as a ‘best buy’ in health with a return on investment of USD 54 for every dollar invested and provides a foundation for future prosperity and health security.
Dr. Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, expressed concern over the increasing outbreaks of highly infectious diseases and highlighted the clear plan to bolster defences by expanding investments in global vaccine stockpiles and rolling out targeted preventive vaccination in countries most impacted by meningitis, yellow fever, and measles. “These vital activities, however, will be at risk if Gavi is not fully funded for the next five years, and we call on our donors to support our mission in the interests of keeping everyone, everywhere, safer from preventable diseases,” Dr. Nishtar added.
Dr. Nishtar also announced that Gavi’s upcoming high-level pledging summit, scheduled for June 25, 2025, seeks to raise at least USD 9 billion from donors to fund their ambitious strategy to protect 500 million children, saving at least 8 million lives from 2026 to 2030. World Immunization Week 2025 will be running under the theme “Immunization for All is Humanly Possible.”