Overview:
Immunisation coverage across the Western Pacific has stabilised after the COVID-19 pandemic, but new estimates from WHO and UNICEF warn that progress remains uneven, leaving nearly 1.7 million babies without even a first routine vaccine dose in 2025. Health officials are urging governments to accelerate efforts to meet global vaccination targets by 2030 and prevent future outbreaks of measles, polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
MANILA, 16 JULY 2026 (WHO PACIFIC) — New WHO and UNICEF estimates reveal that while overall immunisation coverage in the Western Pacific region has stabilised following the COVID-19 pandemic, progress remains uneven and far too many children continue to miss life-saving vaccines.
Governments must significantly accelerate action as the Region is currently not on track to meet global immunisation targets for 2030.
The 2025 WHO/UNICEF Estimates of National Immunisation Coverage (WUENIC) show that many countries across the Western Pacific continue to maintain high vaccination coverage and introduce new vaccines in their national programmes.
However, others face growing challenges, including recent measles and poliovirus outbreaks, declining public confidence in immunisation, and financing pressures. Last year, nearly 1.7 million babies, around 1 in every 11 born across the region, were zero-dose children, meaning they did not receive even a first routine vaccine dose.
Further, coverage with the third dose of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis containing vaccine (DTP3), which is an indicator of programme performance as it shows completion of a child’s primary immunisation series, remains below pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Yet, the Region has also shown what sustained commitment and collaboration can achieve.
For 25 years, the Western Pacific has retained its official polio-free status. Twenty-nine countries and areas have achieved measles and rubella elimination, including all 21 Pacific island countries and areas in 2025. Further, 35 countries and areas have introduced HPV vaccination programmes, expanding protection against cervical cancer and strengthening girls’ and women’s health.
“Immunisation has safeguarded the health of millions of people, including children, across our Region,” said Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.
“But the latest estimates remind us that progress cannot be taken for granted. Every child who misses vaccination leaves a gap in our collective protection. We know what works. Now we must invest sustainably, speed up implementation, and ensure every child is reached.”
The findings reinforce three regional priorities that WHO, Member States and partners are advancing through the global Immunisation Agenda 2030:
*Reduce zero-dose and under-immunised populations by 50 percent;
*Achieve and sustain measles and rubella elimination; and
*Expand immunisation across the life course, including HPV vaccination to prevent cervical cancer.
The challenges look different across the region.
In some countries, the priority is reaching children in densely populated urban areas; in others, it is sustaining services across remote islands, mountainous areas or communities affected by persistent emergencies.
Indonesia and the Philippines remain among the countries with the largest numbers of zero-dose children globally. Papua New Guinea continues to face significant routine immunisation challenges and is among the countries with lowest levels of DTP1 coverage.
At the same time, many countries across the Region have sustained high vaccination coverage and expanded access to new vaccines, demonstrating that continued investment delivers results.
“For governments across the Region, the message is clear,” said Dr Huong Tran, Director of Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Control at the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.
“Immunisation must remain a national priority, backed by sustained investment and resilient health systems. Reaching every community requires listening to people’s concerns, building trust through local health workers, responding to misinformation, and ensuring vaccination services are available where families need them. Countries have also called for stronger regional collaboration, better data and surveillance, and more opportunities to share experience and practical solutions.”
Immunisation remains one of the smartest investments in public health. Every US$1 invested in immunisation can generate up to US$54 in health, social and economic benefits by preventing disease, reducing health-care costs, avoiding outbreaks and supporting healthier, more productive societies.
Globally, vaccination has prevented an estimated 154 million deaths since 1974. In the Western Pacific Region, measles vaccination alone is estimated to have saved around 12 million lives over the same period.
The WUENIC data, together with recommendations from governments and technical experts, will inform discussions at the seventy-seventh session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in October 2026, where Member States will, among other health priorities, define the Region’s immunisation agenda through 2030.
“The Western Pacific has shown that ambitious public health goals are achievable when countries work together,” said Richard Duncan, Coordinator, Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunisation, WHO Western Pacific.
“We have the evidence we need, and we need to turn this evidence into action. By investing in resilient immunisation systems as a key pillar of universal health coverage, and reaching every community through strengthened primary health care, we can protect more lives today while better preparing for the health challenges of tomorrow,” he said.
Western Pacific region (2025)
*Nearly 1.7 million babies (1 684 007) did not receive a first routine diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine dose (DTP1), equivalent to about one in every eleven births.
*Regional DTP1 coverage was 91.1 percent, broadly stable when compared with 2024.
*Regional DTP3 coverage remains below pre-pandemic levels in 2019 (94 percent) but has stabilised at 89 percent since 2023.
*The Western Pacific Region has retained its polio-free status for more than 25 years, but recent events in a number of places are a warning that countries cannot be complacent.
Global context
* Vaccination has prevented an estimated 154 million deaths since 1974.
*Smallpox vaccination, through a concerted global campaign underpinned by collaboration between WHO Member States, succeeded in eradicating the disease globally almost half a century ago.
*Measles vaccination alone has prevented approximately 94 million deaths globally, including an estimated 12 million lives saved in the Western Pacific region.
*Every US$1 invested in immunisation can generate up to US$54 in health, social and economic benefits
WUENIC (WHO/UNICEF Estimates of National Immunisation Coverage) provides the world’s most comprehensive dataset on global vaccination trends, tracking coverage for 16 different vaccines across 195 countries. Updated annually, it combines officially reported state data, literature, and surveys to identify vaccination gaps and monitor disease eradication efforts…. PACNEWS
For more information, and to arrange media interviews, please contact: WHO Western Pacific Communications, wprocom@who.int
