Building on the momentum of the smallpox eradication effort, the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) was launched in 1974 to ensure that all children, in all countries, benefited from life-saving vaccines.

Today every country in the world has a national immunization programme and vaccines are viewed as one of the safest, most cost-effective, and successful public health interventions to prevent deaths and improve lives. Since the initial focus on six childhood vaccine-preventable diseases over four decades ago, the addition of new vaccines has increased the breadth of protection provided by immunization, to include vaccinations for protection of older children, adolescents and adults.

Committed to its goal of universal access to all relevant vaccines for all at risk, EPI continues to work in synergy with other public health programmes to control infectious disease and achieve better health for all populations everywhere.