October 2005

Vaccine-preventable diseases kill more than 2 million people every year, two-thirds of whom are young children. In an effort to expand the reach of immunisation to people worldwide and to introduce new vaccines, WHO and UNICEF developed the Global Immunization Vision and Strategy (GIVS) for 2006-2015. GIVS will work to support and improve child health and survival through the delivery of a package of key health interventions, such as nutrition and insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) against malaria, at the point of immunisation, especially for hard-to-reach populations. "One in four children is still deprived of lifesaving vaccines that should be within reach," said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman. According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the strategy "gives unprecedented attention" to people who are economically poor, socially marginalised and/or living in remote or underserved areas such as urban slums and remote rural regions. In an effort to mobilise communities around the world to prevent diseases among such populations, GIVS sets a number of specific goals, one of which is for each country to reach 80% immunisation coverage in each district by 2010.

The GIVS strategic framework on immunisation presents a range of strategies (24 in total; divided into 4 thematic areas) from which countries are invited to select those most suited to their needs. As reflected in the below excerpts, key themes underriding these strategies are global partnership and the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the mass media to spread vaccine-related information and correct misconceptions.

Excerpts from the Executive Summary follow:

"The strategic approaches are: protecting more people in a changing world; introducing new vaccines and technologies; integrating immunization, other health interventions and surveillance in the health systems' context; and immunizing in the context of global interdependence. Immunization and the other linked interventions described will contribute significantly to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, the immunization-related goals set by the United Nations General Assembly special session on children in 2002, and the goals set by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization and its financing arm the Vaccine Fund. They will also help Member States, as urged in resolution WHA56.19, to increase vaccination coverage against influenza of all people at high risk. In today's increasingly interdependent world, acting together against vaccine-preventable diseases of public health importance and preparing for the possible emergence of diseases with pandemic potential will contribute significantly to improving global health and security...

...In response to immunization needs worldwide, global partnerships, such as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, The Vaccine Fund, and the Measles Partnership, have been created in order to attain shared goals. Such partnerships bring together major stakeholders in immunization from the public and private sectors, including the vaccine industry. Initiatives for eradication of poliomyelitis, reducing measles mortality and elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus have shown that partnerships enable immunization services to be brought to even the most hard-to-reach communities."

A draft document was circulated for comment, and discussed by Member States at the World Health Assembly in Geneva from May 16-25 2005.

GIVS website; and "World Health Assembly Adopts Global Immunization Strategy" May 25 2005 PAHO press release.