2025 is not an ordinary year. Funding cuts are sending shock waves through the programmes that support the delivery and research of vaccines across the globe. It will be some time before we can fully appreciate the effects of these cuts, but we should be in no doubt as to the imminent threat they pose to public health. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is under threat from a proposed cancellation of a US$2.6 billion grant already disbursed in an ongoing funding cycle. Historically the US and the UK have contributed significant amounts of funds to Gavi to protect global populations from vaccine preventable diseases. Sinia Nishtar, the Chief Executive Officer of Gavi has stated publicly that the withdrawal of US support would translate to 75 million children missing vaccinations and more than 1 million lives being lost. In The Gambia we know that the government is heavily dependent on Gavi support for nearly all routine vaccines, as well as the introduction of new ones. Recent cuts to the UK’s overseas development assistance from 0.5%-0.3% of gross national income will inevitably put more young lives at risk from the consequences of preventable infectious diseases.

Bridges, once burned, will not be rebuilt easily. We are seeing colleagues lose their jobs at the US Department of Health and Human Services, the US Centres for Disease Control, WHO and GAVI. Funding to long-standing research programmes is being halted without warning. Emerging vaccine technologies are being deprioritised. A former student informed us this week that the Communication Education and Behavioural Studies branch within the Division of TB Elimination was closed as part of the federal reduction of force. This closure will have significant repercussions for populations disproportionately burdened by Tuberculosis which is the world’s leading infectious disease killer.

In the midst of all these funding challenges we must also be proactive about combating insidious vaccine revisionism - the false narrative that there is insufficient evidence to support the safety and efficacy of vaccines. This narrative is pervasive in areas that are experiencing measles outbreaks and deaths of unvaccinated children. Instead of seeking to promote life-saving vaccination money is needlessly being allocated to reinvestigating scientifically refuted causal links between vaccines and autism. We call for more constructive dialogue between health professionals and people who have questions about vaccination. To showcase and discuss how this can be achieved we have invited Professor Stephan Lewandowsky to present on new communication techniques (Jitsu VAX) that a team of researchers have developed to understand and address vaccine misinformation. Please join us in person or remotely for our ‘Vaccine Centre Annual Lecture: How to engage with vaccine hesitancy’ that is taking place on Monday 19 May.

We have a responsibility to redress negativity about vaccines and focus attention on vaccine success stories. As emphasised in a recent Lancet correspondence signed by members of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE): “Vaccination remains the most cost-effective public health intervention, preventing millions of deaths and reducing disease burden worldwide.”

Recent advances that need to be celebrated include the ongoing implementation of malaria vaccines, which has now reached 17 endemic countries, with more than 12 million doses delivered. We are also seeing the positive effects of the rollout of vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that are offering direct protection for older adults and the indirect protection passed from mother to newborn following maternal vaccination. Finally, it is important to applaud the efforts of WHO Regional Offices and member states who have reached consensus on a proposal for a Pandemic Agreement that brings countries together to prevent, prepare for and respond to future pandemics. We actively support the adoption of this proposal by the World Health Assembly when they meet in May this year and call for its equitable implementation to protect current and future generations in every corner of our globe.

Now more than ever, vaccines need advocates. This can take many guises, whether in the form of conversations with friends and family members, research into new and existing vaccines, direct support for vaccine delivery, or taking to the streets to protest funding cuts. This World Immunisation Week, we call on Vaccine Centre members to champion vaccines and ensure the threats they are facing do not go unchallenged.