Africa: 9.5m Children Received No Routine Vaccine in 57 Countries in 2025 - Gavi
[Premium Times] Gavi defines zero-dose children as infants who have not received the first dose of a diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis-containing vaccine by the end of their first year.
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, revealed in its 2025 Annual Progress Report that 9.5 million children across 57 supported countries received no routine vaccinations in 2025. This figure, known as the number of "zero-dose" children, represents a decrease of 600,000 compared to 2024 and a 25% reduction from the peak in 2021. Despite this decline, the number still remains 4% above the 2019 baseline, largely due to ongoing population growth.
Regions facing conflict, fragility, and humanitarian crises persist as the most challenging areas for immunisation, particularly affecting Nigerian children, who experienced the highest number of zero-dose cases at 2.2 million. Countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Pakistan reported improved immunisation coverage in targeted areas supported by Gavi's investments.
Gavi's Zero-Dose Learning Hubs in Nigeria, Bangladesh, Mali, and Uganda highlighted issues such as gender-related barriers to immunisation. In 2025, Gavi-supported countries immunized over 73 million children through routine programmes and over 351 million children during the 2021-2025 period, surpassing their target of 300 million children.
The immunisation programmes averted more than 2.2 million potential deaths in 2025, bringing the total averted over the past five years to over 7.8 million. The economic benefits of these programmes amounted to more than $30 billion in 2025, with a cumulative total of over $308 billion from 2000 to 2025. Gavi aims to reach an additional 500 million children and prevent between eight to nine million future deaths during its 2026-2030 strategic period, emphasizing the broader economic benefits of immunisation beyond disease prevention.
Written by urgent.news from AllAfrica Health's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
