The Dramatic Impact of Vaccines in Reducing Disease and Death is Well Documented.

Before the measles vaccine was introduced, 8 million people worldwide died of the disease each year.  The annual global mortality rate is now an estimated 1 million – still much too high.  In 1990, measles accounted for 10 percent of global mortality from all causes among children less than five years of age.  Between 1989 and 1996, a new global focus on measles control and elimination reduced estimated incidence rates by 78 percent and death rates by 86 percent. 

Before the first vaccine was licensed in 1985, Haemophilus influenzae B(HIB) disease was the leading cause of childhood bacterial meningitis; approximately one in 200 children developed invasive Hib disease before the age of five years.  Following the introduction of Hib vaccines into childhood immunization programs over the past decade, Hib disease largely disappeared from many regions of the world.  It is estimated that routine use of Hib vaccine could prevent approximately 250,000 to 300,000 deaths among the world's children each year, primarily in Africa and Asia.  Hib disease is still a serious problem in regions where a vaccine is not widely used.  Worldwide estimates indicate that Hib disease is responsible for 276,000 cases of meningitis and 1.4 million cases of pneumonia annually.

To close the gap for these diseases and others, Merck supports development of the immunization workforce, offers deep discounts to countries seeking to adopt our products, and brings combination products to market which facilitate program administration of multiple vaccines.

*Software to view files presented in PDF or SWF format is available at no charge through the Adobe Web site. Get Adobe Reader Get Adobe Flash Player

The content on this page was last modified on October 24, 2008.