Letter from the Editor

Immunization prevents an estimated 2.5 million deaths every year from a variety of communicable diseases, particularly childhood infectious diseases. As such, it is among the most successful and cost-effective public health interventions. However, millions of people remain unprotected. The Global Immunization Vision and Strategy developed by WHO and UNICEF is fighting vaccinepreventable diseases globally. A key strategy is the management of vaccination programmes and activities. In this issue, a paper from North Sudan reports on the implementation of the “reach every district” (RED) approach for immunization, which found that the percentage of districts with ≥ 80% coverage for the third dose of diphtheria–pertussis–tetanus increased as RED implementation scores increased. From Qatar are 2 papers on measles surveillance which found that in 2008 only 28% of suspected measles cases were reported within 2 days and only 22% of physicians interviewed met the criterion for best practices for measles surveillance.