WHO: 154 million people saved by vaccinations in 50 years
Published: Wednesday, Apr 24th 2024, 16:20
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According to a study by the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccinations have saved 154 million people over the past 50 years - 146 million of them children under the age of five.
This corresponds to six people saved from death every minute, the WHO reported in Geneva on Wednesday. The measles vaccine had the greatest benefit. Sixty percent of the people saved owed their lives to it.
In total, vaccines against 14 diseases have reduced the mortality rate among babies worldwide by 40 percent. The diseases include diphtheria, polio, tetanus and whooping cough. "Vaccines are among the most effective inventions in history and make once dreaded diseases preventable," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Fifty years ago, less than five percent of babies worldwide were routinely vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. Today it is 84 percent, reported the WHO.
Measles is a viral infectious disease that can be life-threatening. Vaccination protects against it. The number of outbreaks is currently increasing worldwide because the necessary vaccination coverage is still too low throughout the population in many places. This would require 95 percent or more of people to have received two doses of the vaccine. Currently, the figure is 83% for the first and 74% for the second vaccine dose.
In 2022, almost 22 million babies would not have received the first dose and eleven million would have missed the second dose. According to WHO estimates, 136,000 people died from measles that year, mostly children under the age of five.
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