Immunisation and vaccines

Vaccination protects people against serious and life-threatening infectious diseases, such as influenza (flu), diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), measles, mumps, rubella (German measles), meningococcal disease, invasive pneumococcal disease and polio.

Each year, vaccination stops 2.7 million people worldwide from getting measles, one million from getting pertussis and two million babies from getting tetanus.