The Big Catch-Up (BCU), a historic multi-year, multi-country effort to address vaccination declines driven largely by the COVID-19 pandemic, has reached an estimated 18.3 million children aged 1 to 5 across 36 countries with more than 100 million doses of life-saving vaccines.
According to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), WHO, and UNICEF at the start of World Immunisation Week, it helped to narrow critical immunity gaps.
BCU also provided 23 million doses of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) to un- and under-vaccinated children, an essential intervention to reach polio eradication. Programme implementation concluded on 31 March 2026.
Although final data is still being compiled, the global initiative is forecasted to be on track to meet its target of reaching at least 21 million un- and under-immunised children.
Beyond pandemic recovery, the BCU initiative focused on closing the vaccine equity gap. Millions of children every year miss the essential vaccinations they should receive before the age of one. Most of them live in fragile, conflict-affected, or underserved communities and are never caught up as they grow older.
The 36 participating BCU countries across Africa and Asia currently account for 60% of all zero-dose worldwide.
Among the participating countries, 12 countries (Burkina Faso, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger, Pakistan, Somalia, Togo, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia) reported reaching more than 60% of all zero-dose children under the age of 5 who had previously missed DTP1.
In Ethiopia, more than 2.5 million previously zero-dose children received DTP1. The country also delivered nearly 5 million doses of IPV and more than 4 million doses of measles vaccine, among other key vaccines, to un- and under-vaccinated children. Countries outside this group also reached large numbers of children.
While these 36 countries received Gavi funding and technical assistance from WHO and UNICEF through BCU, many other countries also implemented activities during this period to accelerate efforts to catch-up missed children and recover immunisation services following pandemic-related backsliding.
WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi, along with countries and communities, are marking World Immunisation Week (24–30 April 2026) with a joint campaign.
Algeria eliminates trachoma
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Algeria as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, making it the 10th country in WHO’s African Region and the 29th country globally to achieve this significant milestone.
Affecting the eye, trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. Globally, the disease remains endemic in 30 countries and is responsible for the blindness or visual impairment of about 1.9 million people.
According to the latest figures, 97 million people live in trachoma endemic areas and are at risk of trachoma blindness. The disease is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, which is spread through contact with infected eye discharge via hands, clothing, or flies. Repeated infections can lead to scarring of the inner part of the upper eyelid, turning eyelashes inward to scratch the eyeball: a painful condition known as trachomatous trichiasis that can lead to visual impairment and blindness.
Algeria’s fight against trachoma dates back to the early 20th century with the establishment of the Pasteur Institute of Algeria in 1909. After independence, Algerian physicians, led by Prof Mohamed Aouchiche, took charge of this work. Their efforts were strengthened by the creation of a national public healthcare system that began to provide services free of charge to patients in 1974.
To accelerate trachoma elimination, Algeria implemented various strategies and became the 62nd country globally and the 23rd in the WHO African Region to have eliminated at least one neglected tropical disease.
Bahamas eliminates mother-to-child transmission of HIV
WHO congratulates The Bahamas for becoming the latest Caribbean nation to be certified as having eliminated the mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
The Bahamas achieved this milestone by pioneering a comprehensive and inclusive health-care model.
From Cuba, the first country in the world to be certified, and Brazil – certified last year, The Bahamas now joins a prestigious group of 12 countries and territories in the Region of the Americas at the forefront of the EMTCT movement.
