Conference – “For a Healthy Future of Our Children – Childhood Immunization” Opening statement by the WHO Regional Director for Europe

3 March 2011, Budapest, Hungary

It is a particular pleasure to be here today in the company of old friends, colleagues and partners, and in my country. The priorities in health that the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union is addressing are ones that I, as the WHO Regional Director for Europe and as a Hungarian, can fully commit to and support. The commitment to prioritizing immunization and child health, and to promoting the integration of Roma people, provides Member States with a strong foundation on which to build stronger relations and advocate meeting the goals of eliminating measles and rubella, eradicating poliomyelitis (polio) globally, improving equitable access to vaccines and strengthening service delivery. The cornerstone for these priorities is Member States’ working together.

Vaccines and immunization have played a remarkable and important role in the health gains over the last century. Last year we celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the first disease of humankind to be eradicated through vaccination. The world has also seen a 99% reduction in polio cases and 78% reduction in measles mortality between 2000 and 2008.

Simply put, vaccines save lives. An estimated 3 million lives are saved by immunization worldwide each year, and vaccines save millions more from suffering illness and lifelong disability. It is heart-warming to see that, at the start of the second decade of the 21st century, more children than ever before are being reached with immunization. Additionally, the benefits of immunization are increasingly being extended to adolescents and adults, providing protection against life-threatening diseases such as influenza, meningitis and cancer. Indeed, immunizing individuals across the life spectrum is a cost-effective investment and a key component of the right to health and well-being of our communities.

Yet with all the positive cooperation, innovation and collaboration that exist, we stand at a crossroads in Europe, risking losing many of the gains that our predecessors in public health have made and forgoing agreed-upon goals that are within reach. In 2010, we witnessed large-scale outbreaks of measles and rubella with spread among multiple countries; we saw the re-emergence of polio in the WHO European Region, which had been free of polio cases for more than 10 years; and we saw the continued decline in vaccine acceptance among populations for many reasons. On the positive side, we witnessed collaboration among countries in addressing these outbreaks. Diseases know no borders, and in this day and age we all share borders, either physically or virtually, with high levels of population movement. In the European Union, there are shared health threats, so there is an evident need for strong partnerships to prevent and control vaccine-preventable diseases and ensure that the European Region remains polio-free and, by 2015, that it is also proud to have eliminated measles and rubella. Decision-makers, health workers and community members alike need to remain vigilant against vaccine-preventable diseases – even those that we do not see within our communities. Will we take the right road? I believe we will.

Through joint planning and implementation of effective preventive measures, the Region will achieve the goals of maintaining its polio-free status, reaching measles and rubella elimination and reducing mortality associated with vaccine-preventable diseases, to reach Goal 4 of the Millennium Development Goals (to reduce childhood mortality by two thirds by 2015). All Member States have committed to strengthening advocacy, increasing political commitment and ensuring enough resources are made available to achieve these goals, by adopting a resolution in September 2010, and WHO/Europe is committed to partnering with you to keep your commitments.

At WHO/Europe we are striving to bring the Region closer to the ideal of better health for the next decade by giving expression to health across the whole spectrum of government policy-making at the local, regional, national and European Region levels. We are confident that the Health 2020 policy, which is currently under development, will provide a common vision and a Region-wide policy framework, built on agreed values, principles and the best available evidence. The vision is particularly applicable for strengthening the immunization system, accelerating disease control and enhancing surveillance and monitoring of vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programmes.

European Immunization Week (EIW), an initiative coordinated by WHO/Europe, has become a platform to highlight the benefits of vaccination and to raise awareness of issues such as the existence of communities that lack access to both traditional and new vaccines. In 2010, 47 Member States participated in EIW, conducting a broad and varied range of activities promoting or delivering vaccination. This year, EIW takes place between 23 and 30 April.

We all share the social responsibility – as parents, health care providers and decision-makers – to boost vaccination levels and advocate immunization, to ensure our children remain healthy and free of vaccine-preventable diseases.

I thank you for inviting us to join you!