Global health agencies and partners are already working to implement the landmark Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), a roadmap to prevent millions of deaths by 2020 through more equitable access to existing vaccines for people in all communities.

The GVAP, which was endorsed by the World Health Assembly in May, was coordinated by the Decade of Vaccines Collaboration, a group of leading international vaccine experts, and represents the collective vision of hundreds of global health stakeholders to extend the full benefits of immunization to all people, regardless of where they are born, who they are or where they live.

The plan is one of the topics being discussed this week at the GAVI Partners' Forum in Tanzania, which is holding sessions guided by the main principles of the GVAP, including country ownership, shared responsibility and partnership, equity, integration, sustainability and innovation. More than 700 global health and government leaders are attending the immunization meeting.

"Vaccines are available to most, but not yet all, people and our task now is to deliver on the promise of universal access to immunization," said Dr. Ciro de Quadros, Executive Vice President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and co-chair of the Decade of Vaccines Collaboration's steering committee. "We are now much further along the road to achieving the vision of the Decade of Vaccines now that the GVAP has been approved and WHO member states agreed to report back every year at the World Health Assembly on progress made."

After its approval by the World Health Assembly in May 2012, the GVAP is in the process of being adapted for implementation at the regional and country level. Country involvement in this process reinforces a key strategic objective of the GVAP, which is to increase national ownership of immunization programs.

"Countries need to ensure they dedicate adequate resources, develop supportive health systems and infrastructure and support and train health workers to vaccinate all people, especially remote and marginalized populations," said Prof. Pedro Alonso, Director of the Institute for Global Health of Barcelona (ISGlobal) and co-chair of the Decade of Vaccines Collaboration's steering committee. "All stakeholders that developed the GVAP need to continue the collaborative process that was started as we move to implementation and do their best to ensure that the countries are in the driving seat to meet their immunization goals."

Currently, four out of every five children receive at least a basic set of vaccinations during infancy that allow them to lead healthy, productive lives.  However, this means 20 percent of children still do not benefit from basic immunization.