A hero's welcome for vaccines
SOMETIMES people say the diseases we vaccinate against aren’t that serious. But the truth is, many of these illnesses can be life-threatening—and vaccines have done an amazing job of keeping them at bay.
Vaccines prevent 4–5 million deaths every year! (WHO)
Measles deaths worldwide dropped by 78% in just eight years (2000–2008) thanks to vaccines. (Vaccines.gov)
Rotavirus and pneumonia still take the lives of nearly 1.2 million children under 5 every year—many of these deaths could be prevented if vaccines were available to all children. (UNICEF)
One woman dies every 2 minutes from cervical cancer, even though we have a vaccine that helps prevent it. (GAVI)
Rubella is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable birth defects. Around 100,000 babies are born each year with severe disabilities that could have been prevented with a simple vaccine. (PLOS ONE 2016)
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