Emergency vaccines slash deaths by 60%
GENEVA : Emergency vaccination during outbreaks of diseases like cholera, Ebola and measles have over the past quarter-century reduced deaths from such illnesses by nearly 60%, according to a new study.
A similar number of infections are also believed to have been prevented, while billions of euros have been generated in estimated economic benefit.
The Gavi vaccine alliance, which backed the study, said it collaborated with researchers at Burnet Institute in Australia to provide the world's first look at the historical impact of emergency immunisation efforts on public health and global health security.
'For the first time, we are able to comprehensively quantify the benefit, in human and economic terms, of deploying vaccines against outbreaks of some of the deadliest infectious diseases,' Gavi chief Sania Nishtar said in a statement.
'This study demonstrates clearly the power of vaccines as a cost-effective countermeasure to the increasing risk the world faces from outbreaks.'
The study, published this week in the British Medical Journal Global Health, examined 210 outbreaks of five infectious diseases – cholera, Ebola, measles, meningitis and yellow fever – in 49 lower-income countries between 2000 and 2023.
Vaccine roll-outs in these settings had a dramatic impact, with the study showing they reduced both the number of infections and deaths by almost 60% across the five diseases.
For some of the diseases the effect was far more dramatic.
Vaccination was shown to decrease deaths during yellow fever outbreaks by a full 99%, and 76% for Ebola.
At the same time, emergency vaccination significantly reduced the threat of outbreaks expanding.
It also estimated that the immunisation efforts carried out during the 210 outbreaks generated nearly US$32 billion in economic benefits just from averting deaths and years of life lost to disability.
That amount was however likely to be a significant underestimate of overall savings, it said, pointing out that it did not take into account outbreak response costs or the social and macro-economic impacts of disruptions created by large outbreaks.
The massive Ebola outbreak that hit West Africa in 2014, before the existence of approved vaccines, for instance saw cases pop up worldwide and is estimated to have cost the West African countries alone more than US$53 billion.
The study comes after the World Health Organisation warned in April that outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, meningitis, and yellow fever are on the rise globally amid misinformation and cuts to international aid.
Gavi, which helps vaccinate more than half the world's children against infectious diseases, is itself currently trying to secure a fresh round of funding in the face of the global aid cuts and after Washington last month announced it would stop backing the group.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
16 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Doctor-patient trust is key to unlocking AI's potential to improve healthcare in Australia, finds Philips' Future Health Index Report
Two-thirds (66%) of Australians welcome technology for improved care, but more than half (53%) are concerned it will mean less face time with their doctor. Three in four (74%) Australian healthcare professionals report losing clinical time due to incomplete or inaccessible patient data, with one fifth of these (19%) losing over 45 minutes per shift, amounting to 23 full days lost per year. Australians are less optimistic about AI in healthcare (43%) compared to their healthcare providers (85%), highlighting a critical trust gap. " " " " ' [1] FHI 2025 Australia report: Based on an eight-hour shift, working 250 days per year. This amounts to 187.50 hours lost per healthcare professional on average. [2] Lilly CM, et al. A Multi-center Study of ICU Telemedicine Reengineering of Adult Critical Care. CHEST. 2014; 145(3): 500-7. [3] Lilly CM, et al. Hospital Mortality, Length of Stay and Preventable Complications Among Critically Ill Patients Before and After Tele-ICU Reengineering of Critical Care Processes. JAMA. June 2011; 305(21) 2175-83.[5] Impact of an Intensive Care Unit Telemedicine Program on a Rural Health Care System. Zawada, et al. Postgrad Med J, 2009; 121(3):160-170. [4] Impact of an Intensive Care Unit Telemedicine Program on a Rural Health Care System. Zawada, et al. Postgrad Med J, 2009; 121(3):160-170. SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - Media OutReach Newswire - 6 August 2025 - Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today released the Australian findings of its 10th edition of the Future Health Index 2025 report: Building trust in healthcare AI. For the first time, the report includes the perspectives of more than 1,000 Australian patients alongside their healthcare professionals, revealing a clear directive: Australians will embrace AI in healthcare, but only if it enhances, rather than replaces, the vital doctor-patient patients and providers see the potential for AI to address major challenges such as care delays and staff burnout, they believe its primary role should be to empower clinicians, allowing for more meaningful, human-centric 10th edition of the Future Health Index gives us the clearest picture yet of what Australians want for their healthcare: technology must serve the human connection", said Shehaan Fernando, interim Managing Director of Philips Australia and New patients, building trust is as important as building technology. At Philips, we are committed to a human-centric vision for AI that empowers clinicians and strengthens the doctor-patient relationship that Australians value".The report uncovers a key tension in Australian attitudes towards technology. Whilst a majority (66%) of Australians welcome new technology if it improves the quality of their care, more than half (53%) express concern that it could lead to less direct interaction with their desire for human connection is amplified by Australia's long-standing reliance on GP services as the foundation of the healthcare system. The findings suggest patients see AI's ideal role as a powerful support tool that handles administrative tasks, streamlines data access, and ultimately frees up GPs to engage in more in-depth, meaningful consultations. In Australia, three in four healthcare professionals (74%) report losing clinical time due to incomplete or inaccessible patient data, with one fifth of these (19%) losing more than 45 minutes per shift – adding up to 23 full days lost per healthcare professional each year. AI's ability to manage and streamline patient data holds the key to reclaiming this time, allowing healthcare professionals to dedicate more focus to direct patient it comes to navigating the complexities of AI, Australians place their trust in their healthcare professionals. 79% of Australians would be most comfortable receiving information about AI in their care from their doctor, surpassing news outlets (48%) and social media (31%). This underscores the indispensable role of clinicians in guiding public acceptance and integration of the report also notes that healthcare professionals themselves have questions, with 77% concerned or unclear about liability for AI errors. Australians are less optimistic about AI's benefits (43%) compared to their healthcare providers (84%), highlighting a critical trust clinicians, we see the incredible potential for AI to help us diagnose earlier and create more personalised treatment plans", said Dr Tim Bowles, Head of Department - HIVE (Health in a Virtual Environment), at East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS) in Western can empower us to spend less time on administration and more time with our patients, ensuring technology elevates, rather than diminishes, the human element of care".Philips' expertise in virtual hospital services and clinical command centres aligns with EMHS's efforts to improve patient-centred care and proactively detect the risk of patient deterioration. This collaboration, featuring the HIVE program and the deployment of a Clinical Command Centre solution leveraging machine learning and predictive analytics, has demonstrated significant patient outcomes.— Adam Lloyd,Data indicates the Clinical Command Centre has led to a 26% reduction in patient mortality, a 30% reduction in length of stay, and has helped 15% of patients be discharged home faster. Furthermore, the program facilitated over 10,000 clinical interactions over a 12-month period, with 10% being for urgent or life-threatening reasons, and 64% of all interactions occurring after hours or on weekends. By integrating technology seamlessly into clinical workflows, Philips helps to augment the skills of healthcare professionals and improve patient care when it's needed most."Our long-term vision is to deliver responsible, human-centric AI that addresses the real-world challenges of patients and providers", said Shehaan Fernando, interim Managing Director of Philips Australia and New Zealand. "By partnering with the medical community, we can ensure that innovation builds trust, improves outcomes, and supports a future of providing better care for more people".For more information, or to download the full FHI 2025 Australia report, visit Hashtag: #Philips The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Royal Philips About Royal Philips Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and well-being through meaningful innovation. Philips' patient- and people-centric innovation leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver personal health solutions for consumers and professional health solutions for healthcare providers and their patients in the hospital and the home. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips generated 2024 sales of EUR 18.2 billion and employs approximately 70,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at About the Future Health Index The Future Health Index is commissioned by Philips. In its 10th edition, the Future Health Index 2025 investigates how innovative technologies, particularly AI, can empower healthcare professionals to deliver better care for more people. Two quantitative surveys were carried out among more than 1,900 healthcare professionals and more than 16,000 patients in 16 countries. The surveys were conducted from December 2024 to April 2025. For more information, or to download the full FHI 2025 Global Report, visit
Free Malaysia Today
21 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
UK battles anti-vax misinformation after child's death
Liverpool recorded a 74% uptake for both MMR doses, with some areas falling under 50%, compared to 84% nationwide. (EPA Images pic) LONDON : A child's death from measles has sparked urgent calls from British public health officials to get children vaccinated, as the UK faces an onslaught of misinformation on social media, much of it from the US. Measles is a highly infectious disease that can cause serious complications. It is preventable through double MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) jabs in early childhood. Health secretary Wes Streeting on July 14 confirmed to parliament that a child had died in the UK of measles. No details have been released, but The Sunday Times and Liverpool Echo newspapers reported the child had been severely ill with measles and other serious health problems in Alder Hey hospital in the northwestern city. Anti-vaxxers quickly posted unconfirmed claims about the death on social media. One British influencer, Ellie Grey, who has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, posted a video denying the child died from measles. 'Measles isn't this deadly disease… it's not dangerous,' she said. Grey criticised Alder Hey for posting a video 'really, really pushing and manipulating parents into getting the MMR vaccine'. Her video was reposted by another British influencer, Kate Shemirani, a struck-off ex-nurse who posts health conspiracy theories. 'No vaccine has ever been proven safe and no vaccine has ever been proven effective,' Shemirani claimed falsely. Liverpool's public health chief Matthew Ashton attacked those 'spreading misinformation and disinformation about childhood immunisations' in the Echo newspaper, saying 'they need to take a very long, hard look at themselves.' 'For those of you that don't know, measles is a really nasty virus,' he said in a video, adding that the jab is a way of 'protecting yourself and your loved ones'. Alder Hey said it has treated 17 children with measles since June. It posted a video in which a paediatric infectious diseases consultant, Andrew McArdle, addresses measles 'myths', including that the MMR jab causes autism. This false claim comes from a debunked 1998 study by a British doctor, Andrew Wakefield, who was later struck off. But it sparked an international slump in vaccinations. 'Lingering questions' Benjamin Kasstan-Dabush, a medical anthropologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told AFP there are still 'lingering questions around the Wakefield era'. He talked to parents who had delayed vaccinating their children, finding reasons included life events and difficulty getting health appointments, but also misinformation. 'We're obviously talking about a different generation of parents, who might be engaging with that Wakefield legacy through social media, through the internet, and of course through Kennedy,' he said. US President Donald Trump appointed Robert F Kennedy Jr as health secretary despite his promotion of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. Kennedy fired all 17 experts on a key vaccine advisory panel and appointed a scientist who warned against Covid jabs. In the United States, 'misinformation is being produced in the highest echelons of the Trump administration', which 'circulates across the internet', Kasstan-Dabush said. In a sign of how narratives spread, a Telegram group airing conspiracies called Liverpool TPR, which has around 2,000 members, regularly posts links to anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense once chaired by Kennedy. In the past few weeks the UK health security agency has amplified its social media coverage on vaccinations, a spokesman said. In a video in response to the reported death, Vanessa Saliba, a consultant epidemiologist, explained the MMR jab protects others, including those 'receiving treatment like chemotherapy that can weaken or wipe out their immunity'. Take-up of the MMR jab needs to be 95% for herd immunity, according to the World Health Organisation. The UK has never hit this target. In Liverpool, uptake for both doses is only around 74% and below 50% in some areas, according to Ashton, while the UK rate is 84%. After Wakefield's autism claims, confirmed measles cases topped 2,000 in England and Wales in 2012 before dropping. But last year, cases soared again. The same trend is happening in other countries. Europe last year reported the highest number of cases in over 25 years; the United States has recorded its worst measles epidemic in over 30 years. Canada, which officially eradicated measles in 1998, has registered more than 3,500 cases this year. An Ontario infectious diseases doctor, Alon Vaisman, told AFP: 'You're fighting against the wall of disinformation and lies.'
Free Malaysia Today
4 days ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Seals sing ‘otherworldly' songs structured like nursery rhymes
Male leopard seals sing songs with five notes to broadcast their individual identity, researchers suggest. (Envato Elements pic) PARIS : When male leopard seals dive down into icy Antarctic waters, they sing songs structured like nursery rhymes in performances that can last up to 13 hours, scientists said on Thursday. The Australian-led team of researchers compared the complexity of the songs composed by the big blubbery mammals to those of other animals – as well as human musicians like the Beatles and Mozart. Lucinda Chambers, a bioacoustics PhD student at Australia's University of New South Wales, told AFP that people are often surprised when they hear the 'otherworldly' hoots and trills sung by leopard seals. 'It kind of sounds like sound effects from an '80s sci-fi movie,' said the lead author of a new study in the journal Scientific Reports. During the spring breeding season, male leopard seals dive underwater and perform their songs for two minutes before returning to the surface for air. They then repeat this performance for up to 13 hours a day, according to the study. The researchers determined that all leopard seals share the same set of five 'notes' that are impossible to distinguish between individuals. However, each seal arranges these notes in a unique way to compose their own personal song. 'We theorise that they're using that structure as a way to broadcast their individual identity, kind of like shouting their name out into the void,' Chambers said. The researchers believe the males use these songs to woo potential female mates – and ward off rivals. 'Songbirds of the ocean' The team studied recordings of 26 seals captured by study co-author Tracey Rogers off the coast of Eastern Antarctica throughout the 1990s. 'They're like the songbirds of the Southern Ocean,' Rogers, also from the University of New South Wales, said in a statement. 'During the breeding season, if you drop a hydrophone into the water anywhere in the region, you'll hear them singing.' The team analysed how random the seals' sequences of notes were, finding that their songs were less predictable than the calls of humpback whales or the whistles of dolphins. But they were still more predictable than the more complex music of the Beatles or Mozart. 'They fall into the ballpark of human nursery rhymes,' Chambers said. This made sense, because the songs need to be simple enough so that each seal can remember their composition to perform it every day, she explained. She compared it to how 'nursery rhymes have to be predictable enough that a child can memorise them'. But each seal song also needs to be unpredictable enough to stand out from those of the other males. Leopard seals, which are the apex predator in Antarctic waters, swim alone and cover vast distances. They likely evolved their particular kind of song so that their message travels long distances, the researchers theorise. Varying pitch or frequency might not travel as far in their environment, Chambers said. Female seals also sing sometimes, though the scientists do not know why. Chambers suggested it could be to teach their pups how to sing – though exactly how this talent is passed down is also a mystery. She added, however, that this behaviour has never been observed in the wild. 'The females could also simply be communicating with each other,' she said.
