The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for immediate, renewed efforts to vaccinate children in its South-East Asia Region. This urgent appeal comes despite the region's overall high immunization coverage in 2025. Approximately 1.2 million children in the region did not receive their first routine vaccine dose in 2025, leaving them vulnerable to preventable diseases. An additional 600,000 children remained only partially vaccinated that year, according to the latest WHO and UNICEF estimates.[health+4]
Persistent Gaps Despite High Coverage
The South-East Asia Region consistently ranks as the highest-performing among all six WHO regions for routine childhood immunization. In 2025, the coverage for the third dose of the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis-containing vaccine (DTP3) reached an impressive 94 percent. This figure stands well above the global average of 85 percent. Similarly, coverage for the first dose of the measles-containing vaccine (MCV1) rose to 96 percent in 2025, up from 95 percent in 2024. The second dose (MCV2) also saw high coverage at 93 percent, significantly exceeding the global average.[health+3]
Despite these strong regional numbers, significant pockets of unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children persist. These "zero-dose" children primarily live in underserved, remote, conflict-affected, and marginalized communities. They often face barriers such as long distances to health facilities, financial constraints, and lack of proper documentation.Misinformation also continues to erode trust in vaccines in some areas, posing a challenge to public health efforts.[health+3]
Dr. Catharina Boehme, Officer-in-Charge of the WHO South-East Asia Region, emphasized the critical need to address these inequities. "As we build on the high immunization coverage, we must focus on the children who are still being missed," Dr. Boehme said. "Every zero-dose and partially vaccinated child represents inequity in access to essential health services and a missed opportunity to protect life."She stressed that targeted efforts in underserved and hard-to-reach areas are essential to close these gaps.[health+7]
Decline from Pandemic Peak, But Slow Progress
The number of children who did not receive their first DTP vaccine dose in 2025, at 1.2 million, represents a 65 percent decline from the peak of 3.3 million recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.The pandemic severely disrupted essential immunization services, causing DTP3 coverage to drop to 85 percent in 2020 and further to 82 percent in 2021.While this recovery is positive, the reduction in zero-dose children from 2024 to 2025 was marginal, with only about 23,000 fewer children missed. This slow progress highlights the ongoing challenges in reaching every child.[health+10]
The accumulation of these unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children creates immunity gaps across the region. These gaps significantly increase the risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Recent measles outbreaks, including those in Bangladesh, serve as a stark reminder of how quickly these highly infectious diseases can resurface and spread when immunity wanes.Ensuring timely vaccination for every eligible child is therefore crucial to prevent such resurgences.[who+2]
Strategies for Reaching Every Child
To address these persistent gaps, the WHO is urging countries in the South-East Asia Region to strengthen efforts at all levels. This includes implementing tailored approaches at sub-national levels to identify and immunize all unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children. Ms. Saima Wazed, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, who took office on February 1, 2024, has previously emphasized the need for urgent and accelerated action to understand why children are missed and prioritize reaching them.[reliefweb+2]
Recommended strategies include expanding outreach programs, strengthening vaccine supply chains, and investing in community-based vaccination initiatives.Countries must also consider the behavioral and social factors that influence immunization uptake. This involves engaging communities more effectively and developing interventions that accelerate the demand for vaccination.Periodic mapping of at-risk populations and creating appropriate plans to address identified gaps are also vital steps.[asiamd+3]
Immunization remains one of the most cost-effective public health interventions, saving millions of lives annually.The region has a strong history of progress, maintaining polio-free status since 2014 and eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus since 2016.Many countries have also achieved and maintained measles elimination.Building on these successes, the current focus is on achieving the goals of the Immunization Agenda 2030, a global strategy developed to ensure everyone benefits from vaccines throughout their lives.[who+4]
The WHO remains committed to supporting countries in their efforts to increase immunization coverage. The goal is to ensure every person has access to life-saving vaccines for their well-being and health. By prioritizing the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach children, the South-East Asia Region can close existing equity gaps and protect all its communities from preventable diseases.
