1. Vaccines save up to 3 million children a year from deadly diseases. At the same time, one in five children — 19 million worldwide — lack access to the lifesaving vaccines they need to stay healthy.

2. Since 2000, the measles vaccine has saved more than 21 million lives around the world. That same year, the U.S. eliminated measles thanks to national vaccine outreach.

3. Thanks to vaccination efforts, the number of polio cases have dropped from 350,000 a year to just 33 cases last year.

4. Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe and often fatal diarrhea among children — and can easily be prevented with a vaccine.

5. A clinical trial is currently underway for a new universal influenza vaccine, which would eliminate the need to update the flu vaccine from year to year and increase protection from emerging flu strains.

6. All licensed vaccines have been rigorously tested in clinical trials, and are constantly monitored for quality once they reach the market. Most, if any, reactions to vaccines are short-term and involve only minor irritation.

7. Vaccines are considered a “best buy” in global health. Every $1 invested in immunizations yields $44 in economic and social benefits, according to UNICEF.

8. Vaccines will play a crucial role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a global agenda adopted by 193 countries in 2015 to create a better world that leaves no one behind. This includes eradicating poverty (SDG 1), solving global hunger (SDG 2), and improving good health and well-being (SDG 3).

9. Right now, WHO is testing a new vaccine to protect against malaria, one of the planet’s oldest and deadliest diseases, which kills about 435,000 people each year, the majority of whom are children living in malaria-prone countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

10. Vaccines will be vital in curbing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a grave and growing threat to global public health.

Read the full article about the role of vaccines in global health by Katie Blanton at United Nations Foundation.