Global routine vaccination coverage, 2010

The Expanded Program on Immunization was established by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1974 to ensure universal access to routinely recommended childhood vaccines. Six vaccine-preventable diseases initially were targeted: tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and measles. In 1974, fewer than 5% of the world\'s infants were fully immunized (1); by 2005, global coverage with the third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine (DTP3) was 79%, but many children, especially those living in poorer countries, still were not being reached. That year, WHO and the United Nations Children\'s Fund (UNICEF) developed the Global Immunization Vision and Strategy (GIVS), with the aim of decreasing vaccine-preventable disease--related morbidity and mortality by improving national immunization programs (2). One goal of GIVS was for all countries to achieve 90% national DTP3 coverage by 2010. This report summarizes the status of vaccination coverage globally and regionally in 2010 and progress toward meeting the GIVS goal. In 2010, 130 (67%) countries had achieved 90% DTP3 coverage, and an estimated 85% of infants worldwide had received at least 3 doses of DTP vaccine. However, 19.3 million children were not fully vaccinated and remained at risk for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis and other vaccine-preventable causes of morbidity and mortality; approximately 50% of these children live in India, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Despite the overall improvement in vaccination coverage during the past 37 years, routine vaccination programs need to be strengthened globally, especially in countries with the greatest numbers of unvaccinated children.