Since the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in 1974, vaccines have saved approximately 154 million lives over the past 50 years. [사진: 셔터스톡]
[디지털투데이 AI리포터] When you think about vaccines after a pandemic, you tend to think about COVID-19 vaccines, but the history of vaccines is quite long.
Since the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in 1974, vaccines have saved the lives of around 154 million people over the past 50 years, reported on the 10th (local time) on Japanese media Gigajin.
The study, which involved more than 20 medical researchers, found that the majority of lives saved were children under the age of five. In particular, the health benefits from the measles vaccine were found to be the greatest. The measles vaccine has also accounted for 60% of total vaccinations over the last 50 years.
However, vaccination rates have been declining globally in recent years. In 2021, the number of children who have not been vaccinated against measles increased to a record level. In addition to modernization, several recent cases of COVID-19-related vaccine side effects appear to have had an impact. The research team explained that “complacency and indifference” were the causes of the decline in vaccination rates.
The research team found that about 40% of the decrease in the infant mortality rate was due to vaccination. It was found that each life saved through vaccination gained an average of 66 years of healthy life and did not lose a total of 10.2 billion years of healthy life.
Accordingly, the research team spoke about the importance of vaccination and emphasized the need for efforts to increase the vaccination rate.
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