Foundations for health
How immunization supports the health of children, families, and communities
Investments in immunization have resulted in some of the most dramatic improvements in child health. A shot in the arm or a few drops of vaccine in the mouth can mean the difference between a family’s sorrow and a child’s healthy future. Dedicated immunization campaigns eradicated the once-debilitating smallpox from the planet, and focused polio campaigns promise to do the same.
Today, more children than ever before are experiencing the promise of vaccines. After her other children struggled with diarrheal disease, Teresa, a mother from Zambia, was determined to get her one-month-old son Vusi vaccinated against rotavirus (see “Immunization is an entry point for education”). Now she can rest easily knowing that he is protected from one of the leading killers of children under five years old.
But not all children are as fortunate as Vusi. An estimated 24 million children still lack access to basic immunization, and new vaccines that reach the industrialized world could take years to become available in poor countries, if they become available at all.
This slideshow offers a glimpse into the true stories of how vaccines are already making a lasting impact on individuals, families, and communities across the globe. It also highlights opportunities for continued advancements. Investments in vaccine research, development, and introduction will help build on the major health gains of the last century and have a significant impact on the health of children in the future.
By introducing new vaccines, like those that prevent pneumonia and the most deadly forms of diarrheal disease, and making them accessible to all, we can help cut child deaths in half. These activities also help support strengthening health systems, which are essential to delivering vaccines to the most remote communities. Finally, investments in vaccine research and development are essential to ensure immunization programs reach all children—no matter where they live.
These children hold much more than a vaccination card in their hands. They hold hope for a healthier future. Since PATH helped India introduce a vaccine against Japanese encephalitis in 2006, nearly 75 million children have been vaccinated against the disease. With continued investment in the immunization system—including research, delivery, education, and integrated health systems—we can end needless deaths and suffering from many diseases. Photo: PATH/Julie Jacobson.
A mother walks for more than an hour with her sick baby to the Al Aghmour health center, south of Sanaa, Yemen. Only about half of Yemen’s population of 23 million has easy access to a health facility. Vaccines are a powerful, desperately needed disease-prevention tool for these and many other families that cannot access health facilities quickly. Photo: PATH/Doune Porter.
A mother in Burkina Faso displays a vaccination card for her son, who just received a dose of MenAfriVac®. The Meningitis Vaccine Project, a partnership between PATH and the World Health Organization, was created to accelerate the development and introduction of MenAfriVac®, a safe and affordable vaccine that provides long-lasting protection against group A meningococcal meningitis, a deadly disease that historically has threatened the lives of 450 million people in 26 African countries. Photo: PATH/Gabe Bienczycki.
Vaccine delivery would be impossible without health care workers, who reach children in remote areas by all means possible—in vehicles, on bicycles, on foot, and by boat—carrying vaccines in insulated boxes to keep them cool. These two health care workers in Tanzania helped Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance simultaneously launch vaccines against the primary causes of two leading childhood killers—pneumonia and diarrhea—in December 2012. Photo: PATH/Doune Porter.
Vaccines have the greatest impact when they reach the greatest number of people, so educating community members—like this mother and daughter in Burkina Faso—is essential to ensuring parents get their children vaccinated no matter where they live. Photo: PATH/Gabe Bienczycki.
Children around the world benefit from a long-standing commitment to vaccine research, and continued support will protect progress achieved and ensure new tools are available for future generations. In Bangladesh, PATH is testing a vaccine for Shigella, a leading global cause of bacterial diarrhea. An effective vaccine could save the lives of thousands of children each year. Photo: PATH/Deborah Kidd.
Existing tools can have a significant impact on child health, but there is no guarantee that today’s tools will meet tomorrow’s needs. The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative and GlaxoSmithKline are conducting large-scale efficacy trials of RTS,S malaria vaccine candidate. If recommended for use, the vaccine could help protect millions against a disease that is still a leading killer of children Photo: PATH/Evelyn Hockstein.
Immunization is one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions of all time. Here, a young woman holds a cotton swab to her arm, where she just received a lifesaving vaccine. Donor and government investments in the full range of immunization activities as part of a package of essential services are critical to ensuring that children everywhere can one day raise healthy families of their own and build thriving communities. Photo: PATH/Gabe Bienczycki.
A girl in Burkina Faso who was just vaccinated holds a cotton swab to her arm. By introducing new vaccines, like those that prevent pneumonia and diarrheal diseases—two of the greatest killers of children under five years old—and making them widely available, we can help ensure that children everywhere have the opportunity to lead healthy, productive lives. Photo: PATH/Gabe Bienczycki.
Routine vaccination lays a foundation for comprehensive health care. At a clinic in Zambia’s capital city, Lusaka, mothers received not only vaccines for their children but also bed nets procured by the US President’s Malaria Initative to prevent malaria, a leading cause of death and illness in children under five years old. Photo: PATH.
The rotavirus vaccine introduction in Nicaragua in 2006 marked the first time in history that a developing country took up a new vaccine in the same year as its adoption in the United States. A comprehensive approach to diarrheal disease control, including zinc treatment and oral rehydration therapy, enhanced the rotavirus vaccine’s impact and strengthened the country’s health system. Today, the diarrhea wards in Nicaragua are nearly empty. Photo: PATH/Miguel Alvarez.
After her children struggled with diarrheal disease, Teresa was determined to get one-month-old Vusi vaccinated as soon as she heard about the availability of rotavirus vaccine. At the clinic, the nurse was also able to teach her about preventing other forms of diarrheal disease by boiling drinking water and keeping the baby and the environment clean. Photo: PATH/Gareth Bentley.
In partnership with the World Health Organization, PATH developed a new vaccine against group A meningococcal meningitis—the first vaccine created specifically for Africa. Since its first nationwide introduction in Burkina Faso in December 2010, the vaccine, MenAfriVac®, has reached more than 103 million people in ten African countries. “We hope that meningitis is now history,” says Doma Guere, a nurse in Burkina Faso. Photo: PATH.