World Immunization Week

World Immunization Week, celebrated in the last week of April, aims to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease. Immunization is widely recognized as one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions. It prevents between 2 million and 3 million deaths every year and now protects children not only against diseases for which vaccines have been available for many years, such as diphtheria, tetanus, polio and measles, but also against diseases such as pneumonia and rotavirus diarrhea, two of the biggest killers of children under 5. Now adolescents and adults can be protected against life-threatening diseases such as influenza, meningitis, and cancers (cervical and liver), thanks to new and sophisticated vaccines.