WHO: vaccines save 1.8m lives
- World Health Organization Africa chief Mohamed Janabi said during African Vaccination Week 2026 that vaccines prevent about 1.8 million deaths in Africa each year. - The regional office said 6.7 million African children still have not received a single routine vaccine, despite roughly 500 million children protected since 2000. - The warning comes as Africa expands HPV and malaria shots but faces funding pressure. (afro.who.int)
The World Health Organization said during African Vaccination Week 2026 that vaccines prevent about 1.8 million deaths in Africa every year. (premiumtimesng.com) (afro.who.int) WHO Regional Director for Africa Mohamed Janabi said the campaign runs from April 24 to April 30 under the theme “For Every Generation, Vaccines Work.” He said immunisation protects children, adolescents, adults and older people across the life course. (premiumtimesng.com) (healthwise.punchng.com) The same WHO message paired that 1.8 million figure with a warning: an estimated 6.7 million children in Africa have never received a single routine vaccine. WHO said about 500 million African children have been protected through routine immunisation since 2000. (premiumtimesng.com) (gazettengr.com) That gap sits beside clear signs of recovery in routine programmes. WHO said diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis third-dose coverage among 1-year-olds in the region rose from 72% in 2022 to 74% in 2023. (afro.who.int) WHO and partners also said more than 5 million “zero-dose” children were vaccinated from 2024 through the Big Catch-Up initiative in 24 priority countries. The agency linked that push to efforts to prevent outbreaks and rebuild services after COVID-19 disruptions. (afro.who.int) The vaccine mix in Africa has also broadened. WHO said routine schedules covered eight vaccine-preventable diseases in 2000 and 13 in 2026, with malaria and human papillomavirus vaccines now part of the expansion. (afro.who.int) Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is the virus that causes most cervical cancer cases. WHO said 35 African countries had HPV vaccination programmes in 2024, up from 12 in 2019, and estimated those shots had helped avert close to 1 million cervical cancer deaths in 29 countries by 2024. (afro.who.int) Malaria vaccination is expanding too. WHO said 25 African countries now provide malaria vaccine, and more than 52 million doses had been delivered since 2023 in high-burden settings. (afro.who.int) WHO used this year’s campaign to argue that those gains are fragile. Its April 24, 2026 regional update said Africa’s routine immunisation systems are delivering measurable results, but funding pressures are building as countries try to sustain broader vaccine coverage. (afro.who.int) The headline number, then, is not just 1.8 million lives saved a year. It is that Africa is adding newer vaccines and recovering coverage while millions of children still remain entirely outside the routine system. (afro.who.int 1) (afro.who.int 2)
