Background
With the development of the next strategic vision for global immunization, addressing immunization equity is a central tenet – and the concept of “zero dose” children is being positioned as the instrument to align efforts, allocate resources and define success.
This shift is warranted: the number of children globally today not receiving any vaccinations (zero dose) is twice the number that receive only partial vaccinations. Global immunization coverage improvements over the last ten years have mostly benefited children with some access to health services through reductions in immunization drop out. However, absolute numbers of zero dose children have for the most part remained static and refractory to substantial investments to date. Clearly, we need to do better, and concentrate our collective efforts to ensure that the lifesaving benefits of vaccines are realized by the children and communities most marginalized within society and therefore most vulnerable. We must also use this as a platform for enabling wider health and social engagement as envisaged under efforts to revitalize Primary Health Care (PHC) and Universal Health Care towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.