WHO adopts global vaccine action plan

A global vaccine action plan, developed to help save millions of lives over the next decade, was adopted last month (26 May) by 194 countries at the World Health Assembly (the decision-making body of the WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. The plan was drawn up by the Decade of Vaccines Collaboration — a group comprising stakeholders from the global health community — and was published last month (11 May). It outlines details related to the delivery of the Decade of Vaccines project in the period 2011–2020. Key aims include reducing under-five mortality by two thirds by 2015, and exceeding the target outlined by Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 for reducing child mortality by 2020. “Immunisation […] should be recognised as a core component of the human right to health”, the plan says. Its mission is to “extend, by 2020 and beyond, the full benefit of immunisation to all people”. The plan outlines six strategic objectives,...