A stronger EPI can more readily deliver oral cholera vaccines where they are most needed.
Vaccines blaze a trail for child health
2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), a system that works to ensure successful supply and delivery of critical vaccines to each child.
The impact of the EPI over the decades has been far-reaching. When we invest in immunization, we invest in a system: in health workers, supply chains, and a platform for simultaneously delivering numerous diarrhea prevention and treatment services.
Strong immunization systems are just as relevant today as we face emergent threats to child health, including conflict, migration, and climate change. “Zero-dose children” who miss out on vaccines are often those experiencing the worst impacts of these threats and could benefit from all that immunization systems have to offer.
Use the resources below to help us advocate for continued investment in strong immunization systems to defeat infectious diseases like diarrhea and blaze a trail for child health.
Preventing infection when regular healthcare access is limited is even more critical.
A stronger EPI can more readily deliver oral cholera vaccines where they are most needed.
Increasingly, conflict, displacement, and climate change impact access to lifesaving vaccines. These factors can exacerbate each other, resulting in millions of children around the world not receiving any immunizations, a group often described as “zero-dose children.”
“I often say that it's not the bombs and bullets in war that hurt the most people, it's the invisible microbes that thrive in broken cities... Let me say the obvious: War is bad for your health.” – Dr. Richard Heinzl, Doctors Without Borders Canada.
Vaccines and WASH work best in tandem as powerful diarrhea prevention tools.
In Nepal, WaterAid piloted a program to integrate WASH education into routine rotavirus vaccination appointments.
A mother in Zambia benefitted from a strong primary health system and knew what to do when her child got sick.
Preventing diarrheal disease also means raising awareness about the dangers of drug resistance. With an upstream strategy of prevention, vaccines can eliminate the need for antibiotic treatment by keeping children from getting sick in the first place.
There are no vaccines against Shigella yet available. Health workers and national stakeholders are enthusiastic about the potential of products in the pipeline to address growing AMR concerns.
With recent introductions in high disease burden countries, we can expect these numbers to grow even higher in the years ahead.
Rotavirus vaccines are cost-effective and can prevent costly hospital visits by preventing illness.
More rotavirus vaccine products mean more affordable options for countries to expand coverage and reach more children.