The 1993 World Development Report (WDR) was subtitled ‘Investing in Health’ and advanced the argument that better health outcomes facilitate economic development. Even if one contests the direction of causation, correlation between better health outcomes and higher levels of economic development is not in doubt. In achieving better health outcomes, immunization is a cost-effective strategy. WHO estimates that immunization is globally capable of preventing between two and three million deaths a year.

THE 1993 World Development Report (WDR) was subtitled ‘Investing in Health’ and advanced the argument that better health outcomes facilitate economic development.1 Even if one contests the direction of causation, correlation between better health outcomes and higher levels of economic development is not in doubt.

The success of smallpox eradication in the mid-1970s drew attention to the immunization programme in India. The Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), developed for immunizing children during the first year of life was launched in 1978 mainly in the urban areas. Through the subsequent years, more vaccines were included in the programme, e.g. OPV in 1979 and the vaccine to immunize pregnant mothers with tetanus toxoid (TT) vaccine in 1983.

As both a doctor and a public health professional, I am transfixed by one compelling question: Why are public health issues and debates so often limited to just doctors and those with abbreviations like MBBS, MD, MS or MPH added to their names? Does the ambit of health not extend to other areas of specialization and expertise?

In recent years, there has been much work done due to increasing recognition that children need better medicines. The United States of America and the European Union have adopted regulations to encourage research and development of medicines for children; the World Health Organization (WHO) has been promoting “Make medicines child size”; and researchers and academics are starting to respond to the many unanswered questions about medicines for children, through research and international collaboration.

The objective of this study was to explore the policies for, and implementation of, the community case management (CCM) of childhood illnesses in the 68 countries that were prioritized by the “Countdown to 2015” initiative in 2008.