Dr Saia Ma'u Piukala, the World Health Organization's regional director for the Western Pacific, will lead the organisation's response to vaccination gaps when health representatives meet in Manila for the 77th session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific from 19 – 22 October. The gathering brings together a 38-country region with 2.2 billion people.
More than 840 million people in the Western Pacific still have difficulty accessing essential health services.
The region has maintained its polio-free status for more than 25 years, and 29 countries and areas have achieved measles and rubella elimination.
Coverage with three doses of vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis fell from 94 percent in 2019 to 89 percent in 2025.
Nearly 1.7 million babies in the Western Pacific missed their first routine vaccine dose in 2025, about one in every 11 babies born in the region that year.
The gaps are particularly acute for measles. Cases in the Western Pacific rose by 743 percent from 2022 to 2024. Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Singapore have reported imported measles cases linked to international travel.
Measles coverage in 2025 was 84 percent for the first dose and 77 percent for the second. The level needed to prevent outbreaks is 95 percent. Globally, 57 countries reported large or disruptive measles outbreaks in 2025.
About 13.5 million children were zero-dose in 2025. Since 1974, vaccination has prevented an estimated 154 million deaths globally. Measles vaccination accounts for around 94 million lives saved globally, including an estimated 12 million in the Western Pacific.
The WHO has proposed a regional plan through 2030. Its three connected priorities are reducing zero-dose and under-immunised populations, achieving and sustaining measles elimination, and advancing immunisation across the life course.
Nine countries are working towards measles elimination by 2030.
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