Vaccines have saved at least 154 million lives worldwide over the past 50 years; over 92 million lives saved by measles alone. And for every life saved by vaccines, an average of 66 years of full health were gained, for a total of 10.2 billion years of healthy life gained over the five decades. As a result of vaccination against polio, more than 20 million people who otherwise would have been paralyzed are now able to walk.
These are some of the data published in the Lancet journal on the occasion of World Vaccination Week, the result of a study coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Vaccines are among the most powerful inventions in history, making once-feared diseases preventable,” says WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Thanks to them, smallpox has been eradicated, polio is about to be eradicated and, with the more recent development of vaccines against diseases such as malaria and cervical cancer, we are pushing back the frontiers of disease. With research , continued investment and collaboration, we can save millions more lives today and over the next 50 years.”
breaking latest news © Copyright ANSA