The trio of World Health Organisation, UNICEF and Gavi, have raised the alarm that “outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, meningitis, and yellow fever are rising globally, and diseases such as diphtheria, that have long been held at bay or virtually disappeared in many countries, are at risk of re-emerging.”

In a joint statement on Thursday, WHO, UNICEF and Gavi, called for urgent and sustained global political attention and investment to strengthen immunization programmes and protect significant progress achieved in reducing child mortality over the past 50 years around the world.

The WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was quoted in the statement as expressing concerns that funding cuts to global health could have negative impact on the gains of consistent vaccination in the past five decades.

He said, “Vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives over the past five decades. Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases are increasing around the world, putting lives at risk and exposing countries to increased costs in treating diseases and responding to outbreaks. Countries with limited resources must invest in the highest-impact interventions – and that includes vaccines.”

The trio of WHO, UNICEF and Gavi lamented increasing cases of measles, meningitis, yellow fever around the world, warning that

“Measles is making a dangerous comeback. Measles cases reached an estimated 10.3 million in 2023, a 20% increase compared to 2022,” while “Yellow fever cases in the African region are also climbing, with 124 confirmed cases reported in 12 countries in 2024.”

Echoing Mr Ghebreyesus’s stance, the UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, said “The global funding crisis is severely limiting our ability to vaccinate over 15 million vulnerable children in fragile and conflict-affected countries against measles.

“Immunization services, disease surveillance, and outbreak response in nearly 50 countries are already being disrupted—on par with the setbacks we saw during COVID-19. We cannot afford to lose ground in the fight against preventable disease.”

Similarly, Dr Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, said “Increasing outbreaks of highly infectious diseases are a concern for the whole world. These vital activities, however, will be at risk if Gavi is not fully funded for the next five years and we call on our donors to support our mission in the interests of keeping everyone, everywhere, safer from preventable diseases.”