Vaccinations save six lives every minute, says UNICEF

Vaccinations have saved 154 million lives of children and adults over the past 50 years. That amounts to six lives per minute, according to an analysis by Unicef, WHO, Gavi and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The measles vaccine alone resulted in approximately 94 million fewer deaths.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) global routine vaccination program turns 50 this year. On the occasion of that anniversary, WHO, UN children’s rights organization UNICEF, the BMGF foundation and Gavi, a public-private partnership to increase access to vaccines in poor countries, concluded that vaccinations saved approximately 154 million lives during that period. That makes vaccines “the most important health intervention ever”, says UNICEF.

The measles vaccine alone resulted in approximately 94 million fewer deaths. Globally, the vaccination program has reduced infant mortality by 42 percent and saved 101 million babies. The largest decline in child mortality is observed in Africa. Moreover, thanks to vaccines, more people are living in good health by avoiding medical complications such as paralysis from polio. According to UNICEF, the analysis therefore proves that “vaccinations play a crucial role in protecting children and other vulnerable groups by significantly reducing the risk of serious illness and helping to prevent dangerous infectious diseases from spreading.”

Declining confidence

However, since the Covid-19 pandemic, confidence in childhood vaccines has declined in many countries. According to a 2023 UNICEF report, there has even been a decline of 44 percentage points in some countries. Between 2019 and 2021, vaccination rates fell in 112 countries. As a result, the number of measles cases more than doubled in 2022 compared to the previous year. In addition, the number of children paralyzed by polio increased eightfold between 2019 and 2021 compared to the three years before.

Philippe Henon, spokesperson for Unicef ​​Belgium, therefore states that the figures show the importance of continued investments in vaccinations: “Economic crises, environmental threats and increasing distrust in science threaten to undermine the progress made and put millions of lives at risk. We must “Continue to invest structurally in combating disinformation and providing the right information to maintain confidence in vaccinations.”

Yet there is no reason for doom-mongering. Overall support for vaccines remains relatively strong despite the declines, according to UNICEF.

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