The World Health Organization (WHO) has updated its fact sheet on immunization coverage.

Key Messages:

Immunization prevents illness, disability and death from vaccine-preventable diseases including cervical cancer, diphtheria, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, pertussis (whooping cough), pneumonia, polio, rotavirus diarrhoea, rubella and tetanus.

Annually, an estimated 2 to 3 million deaths from diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), and measles are averted due to immunization.

Global vaccination coverage- refers to the proportion of the world’s children who receive recommended vaccines- has remained steady for the past few years.

Vaccine coverage (2014):

DTP3– The proportion of children who received 3 doses of Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis vaccine: 86% (115 million) globally.

Haemophilus influenzae type B (HiB)– The proportion of children who received three doses of HiB vaccine: 56% globally; 90% in the Americas; 30% in South East Asia Region; 21% in Western Pacific Region.

Hepatitis B vaccine– The proportion of children who received 3 doses of Hepatitis B vaccine: 82% globally; 92% in Western Pacific Region

Measles vaccine– The proportion of children who received 1 dose of measles by their second birthday: 85% globally.

Polio– The proportion of children who received 3 doses of polio vaccine: 86% globally. Polio has been stopped in all but 3 countries- Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Tetanus– The proportion of newborn children who were protected through immunization: 83%.

Pneumococcal vaccine: 31% globally

Rotavirus vaccine: 19% globally

More than 60% of the 18.7 million infants worldwide who did not receive routine immunization services like DTP3 vaccine live in 10 countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Nigeria and Pakistan, the Philippines, Uganda and South Africa.

Challenges to immunization coverage: 

• limited resources;
• competing health priorities;
• poor management of health systems; and
• inadequate monitoring and supervision.

Useful Links:

Link to the updated fact sheet:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs378/en/

Link to WHO/UNICEF Global Immunization Data July 2015:

http://www.who.int/immunization/monitoring_surveillance/Global_Immunization_Data.pdf?ua=1