A good plan is vital to success. As the following pages demonstrate, the WHO South-East Asia Region is well-poised to build on its significant achievements in controlling and eliminating vaccine-preventable diseases and to attain the Global Decade of Vaccines’ vision – extending the benefits of vaccination to all people everywhere.

Progress to date has been strong, in line with the Region’s Flagship Priority Areas. In March 2014 the Region was certified polio-free. It has since stayed that way, saving millions of children the risk of contracting the debilitating and life-threatening disease. In 2016 the Region was validated to have eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus. Mothers and their new-borns have never been safer from the ‘silent killer’. Region-wide progress towards measles elimination and rubella and congenital rubella syndrome control has meanwhile been solid, with Bhutan and Maldives already free of indigenous measles. Notably, increased coverage of the diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus vaccine from 82% in 2000 to 88% in 2016 has resulted in a substantial drop in associated disease burdens.