UNICEF says vaccination programmes for children in the Pacific have made significant progress, but great challenges remain.
Taratiteiti Kirition holding her 1-year-old daughter Pepeeti while a nurse gives her an immunisation shot at a Kiribati clinic Photo: UNICEF
The United Nations children's agency says most of the region's countries have reached, or are close to reaching, a target of 90 percent of children immunised against serious illnesses.
But an estimated 1,700 children in the Pacific still die because of vaccine-preventable illnesses.
UNICEF's Cate Heinrich said overcoming several hurdles that remained would prove a real challenge.
"There are a lot of challenges in the Pacific Islands. A lot relate to getting the vaccine to the communities. So the geographical challenges here are really immense, like long journeys across sea, across mountains," she said.
"Sometimes there's a shortage or they're not able to access the vaccine or afford the vaccine, for example."
Cate Heinrich said several initiatives - both at the national and international level - were working to overcome this.
World Immunisation Week is currently being marked in the region with the theme: Reaching every child in the Pacific with vaccines vital to save lives.
Children watching a member of the Outreach Immunisation Team of Majuro Hospital, preparing immunisation shots in the Marshall Islands. Photo: UNICEF
