Immunization and the Millennium Development Goals: progress and challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean

The child mortality rate has been greatly reduced in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). More than half of the gains in reducing child mortality are attributable to immunization. The Revolving Fund of the Pan American Health Organization contributed to this achievement by catalyzing policy innovations that sustained national immunization programs, such as vaccine legislation and budgetary decrees to ensure delivery of services. In addition to measuring the impact of immunization on the child mortality reduction target of the Millennium Development Goals in the LAC region, this paper provides a policy framework to ensure that the rest of the target is reached.