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.

This resource from the United Nations Foundation helps advocates understand the needed investments to address AMR, including access to disease prevention (like vaccines and safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene) and a robust research and development pipeline.

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.