Vaccines protect lives: A physician’s reminder of what we lose without them

Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious-disease physician and former WHO medical officer, reflects on her frontline work where vaccines were scarce.

In Haiti she witnessed a patient die from tetanus, a disease that a simple injection can prevent, leaving a lasting impression of the pain caused by lack of immunisation.

While serving in an Ebola treatment unit in Sierra Leone in 2014, she saw mothers travel long distances to obtain any available vaccines for their children, underscoring community reliance on these tools.

She notes that the development of an effective Ebola vaccine dramatically improved response capabilities during later outbreaks, illustrating how scientific advances translate into lives saved.