Stronger health security through better disease prevention and control: Vaccine-preventable Diseases and Immunization Programme – 2025 in review

Overview

Vaccines save lives today and are key to preventing and controlling public health threats in the future. But their impact depends on consistent and sufficient use. Due to gaps in immunization coverage, the WHO European Region has seen a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases, with over 127 000 measles cases and over 250 000 pertussis cases reported in 2024. Amid ongoing outbreaks and the challenging public health landscape in 2025, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, through its Vaccine-preventable Diseases and Immunization programme (VPI) and country offices, continued to provide vital support to countries to protect children and adults from dangerous vaccine-preventable diseases. This report provides a snapshot of VPI’s key activities and outputs over the year, showing how the programme helped strengthen health security through better disease prevention and control across the Region.