The UK’s immunisation programmes are world-leading and have led to a dramatic fall in serious infectious diseases. Smallpox has been eradicated globally and NHS immunisation programmes have eliminated from the UK infectious diseases that our grandparents used to fear, such as polio.3
Since the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1968 it is estimated that 20 million cases and 4,500 deaths have been averted in the UK.4
From 1970 to 2017 it is estimated that rubella vaccination has averted 1,300 babies being born with congenital rubella syndrome and 25,000 terminations.4
The current NHS immunisation schedule includes several vaccinations introduced in the last decade, that have helped reduce the burden of infectious diseases:
- Meningococcal B – this vaccination programme resulted in a 50% reduction in cases of invasive meningococcal disease among vaccine-eligible infants in the first 10 months of being introduced.5
- Shingles (herpes zoster) – which resulted in an estimated 17,000 fewer cases of herpes zoster and 3,300 fewer episodes of post-herpetic neuralgia in the first 3 years of the programme.6
- Rotavirus - this vaccination programme which resulted in a 77% decline in laboratory-confirmed rotavirus infections among infants and a 26% decline in all-cause acute gastroenteritis hospitalisations in 2013/2014 compared to pre-vaccination years.
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine – this programme is estimated to have prevented over 38,000 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease across all age groups, including those not directly protected by the vaccine since its introduction in 2006.7
- HPV - Routine vaccination of girls aged 12-13 with the HPV vaccine has been associated with a profound reduction in cervical disease 7 years after vaccination.8