Innovative Immunizations Past and Present
60 years of USAID support for life-saving science and health care
‘Vaccines’ and ‘vaccination’ have been top of mind for everyone over the past year, dominating our conversations with neighbors, family members, friends, and coworkers. Like never before, the global COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the critical importance of immunization.
For USAID and our partners, vaccines have always been an important part of our work to save lives, protect people most vulnerable to disease, and promote the stability of communities and nations.
USAID’s immunization programs are some of our oldest: For more than 60 years we have invested in technology and science to develop new vaccines, supported safe delivery of vaccines; supported distribution and uptake of underutilized vaccines; and helped strengthen routine immunization that give children a healthy start to life.
Vaccines work to bring us closer to a healthy and prosperous future.
Immunizations save an estimated 2 to 3 million lives each year, representing one of the most cost-effective public health interventions to slow or stop the spread of preventable infectious diseases. Routine immunization for children in particular delivers a lifetime of health ‘earnings,’ which is why many of USAID’s immunization investments focus on children under age 5.
Over the past 10 years, USAID’s child health programs have helped save the lives of more than 9.3 million children, thanks in large part to vaccines. Globally, routine immunizations have helped decrease child deaths by more than 50 percent over the past three decades. Vaccinated children grow into healthy adolescents and adults who can go to school, participate in the workforce, and support their communities and countries on a path towards prosperity.
Since the 2000s, USAID has partnered with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to bring public and private sectors together to expand access to life-saving vaccines in 73 low-income countries. Since 2001, USAID has contributed almost $2.8 billion to Gavi, helping 73 lower-income countries immunize more than 822 million children and save more than 14 million lives. Our partnership with Gavi has helped introduce and scale-up new vaccines as well as build sustainable immunization systems needed to support their distribution and delivery.
Vaccines work to bring us closer to a safe and secure world.
For centuries, infectious diseases have plagued humankind, decimating populations and changing the course of history. The introduction of vaccines shifted the scale, equipping health workers, communities, and countries with an effective, preventative tool to save lives and mitigate outbreaks.
In its first years, USAID worked to eradicate one of the most devastating infectious diseases: smallpox. Even as late as the 1960s, smallpox threatened 60 percent of the world’s population and killed one in four victims. In response, USAID joined the World Health Organization and other partners in a global campaign to eradicate smallpox. As the largest international contributor, USAID and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided $32 million to worldwide smallpox eradication efforts that ended successfully after only 11 years.
In the 1980s, USAID joined the global campaign to fight polio, a highly infectious and incurable disease transmitted person to person. Alongside partners like the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, USAID has played a key role in supporting health workers, community leaders, and volunteers to scale-up and sustain the delivery of polio vaccines to children in the hardest-to-reach places. Over 17 million cases of childhood paralysis and disability have been averted.
Since earnest eradication efforts began in the mid-1990s, polio has been eliminated in more than 120 countries. Today, polio remains endemic to only one global region, the Eastern Mediterranean region, after Africa was certified wild polio-free in August 2020. Sustained political will, high-quality immunization campaigns, stronger routine immunization, active disease surveillance, and rapid response plans illustrate why global polio eradication efforts are a shining example for overcoming complex health challenges.
Available vaccines now protect against more than 20 diseases, from pneumonia and cervical cancer to Ebola and measles. USAID supports nations to develop efficient and safe immunization policies, strategies, and guidelines that then allows national health systems to take ownership of routine immunization programs. And the dividends reach outside of health care to promote economic growth and trade, strengthen national security, and support the resilience of our partner countries.
Vaccines work to bring us closer to our families and communities.
In 2021, the science and technology behind life-saving immunizations against preventable infectious diseases is at the forefront. The rapid spread of COVID-19 has demonstrated that no nation can act alone against a global pandemic. Equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines is critical to reduce the tragic loss of life, end the pandemic, recover the U.S. and global economy, and keep Americans safe.
To help families and communities all over the world, the United States, through USAID, has committed a historic $2 billion, out of a total planned $4 billion, in support of the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment, which aims to provide COVID-19 vaccines for 92 low- and middle-income economies. This contribution will ensure safe and effective vaccines reach the world’s most vulnerable and at-risk populations — including frontline health care workers — while mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and its emerging variants.
Immunizations reach more people across the world than any other health service, linking families and communities to health systems, regular care, and high-quality services.
USAID is proud to connect people to care, build trust in health systems, strengthen response networks, and prevent future infectious disease outbreaks.
Vaccines work to protect billions of people from diseases like measles and whooping cough, in addition to supporting essential health care. USAID recognizes issues revolving around immunization — availability, accessibility, quality, and equity persist — regardless of whether or not we are living in a global pandemic. That is why the Agency is committed to advancing immunization to save lives and defeat the vaccine-preventable diseases of the past, present, and future.
About the Author
Steven Norris is a strategic communications intern with the social media team at USAID.
