About Immunisation
The importance of political power in improving immunisation
Women Political Leaders (WPL) is committed to recognising, supporting, and advancing the vital work done on a daily basis by women leaders worldwide. Given the outsized participation of women in care and health concerns, they are particularly crucial to the prevention and handling of health crises. Much progress has been made to implement necessary immunisation programmes around the world, but some of these advances have come under threat during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following resources offer important information on how women leaders can continue to combat health crises into the future despite obstacles old and new.
Even before COVID-19, vaccination was saving more than five lives every minute – preventing up to three million deaths a year.
However, since the outbreak of pandemic, routine vaccination has been delayed or suspended in at least 68 countries, and this is estimated to have negatively impacted approximately 80 million children under the age of one.
These numbers have the potential to increase as the pandemic continues to surge and as the impact of this disease across the life-course receives fuller assessment.
We need urgent action today to determine the course of global vaccination in the coming years, to heighten our ability to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 3, to protect against disruptions in the face of future threats, and to ultimately ensure global health security.