38 million lives: that is the legacy of immunization in South-East Asia over the past 50 years.
38 million lives saved because a vaccine reached them.
That number is the foundation on which we stand today, and it is the standard against which we must chart the next 50 years.
Over the past decade, the Region’s immunization gains have been, by any measure, remarkable.
We have sustained polio-free status and sustained the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus.
We have eliminated measles and rubella in multiple countries, expanded hepatitis B control, and introduced several new vaccines.
These are not small achievements. They are generational ones.
Yet they are now under pressure. From funding constraints. From outbreaks. From evolving health priorities.
We are, at the moment, battling the worst measles outbreak the Region has seen in decades. Hundreds of lives have already been lost, and the growing frequency of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks serves as a powerful reminder that progress in immunization can never be taken for granted.
We must respond with even stronger evidence-based leadership, and agile decision-making—both political and technical.
This Region serves 1.8 billion people, more than one-fifth of all the people on the planet.
With 33 million births every year, we have the largest birth cohort in the world.
We are also the global hub for vaccine manufacturing.
The stakes of immunization decision-making here are, quite simply, unmatched.
This is why National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) matter.
Not simply as technical committees that produce recommendations, but as the most credible and trusted link between scientific evidence and policy making.
NITAGs sit within a deliberate regional architecture—feeding into the WHO SEA Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group.
Together, they form a continuum of evidence-informed decision-making that strengthens immunization programmes across our Region.
A strong NITAG is not just a national asset. It is a regional and global public good.
Your role will become more critical in the years ahead.
The global health financing landscape is changing rapidly. Resources are increasingly constrained.
Let me be direct. Gavi 6.0 has a funding gap of around $3 billion.
Recalibration across the Vaccine Alliance's investments at all levels is inevitable.
In this environment, governments will turn to NITAGs to answer difficult questions:
Which vaccines should be prioritized?
Which interventions deliver the greatest public health impact per dollar spent?
What evidence gaps must be closed, and which research priorities should be pursued, to inform the next generation of immunization decisions?
How do countries sustain hard-won gains while advancing equity?
What is the appropriate vaccination guidance during emergencies and in humanitarian settings?
These are not just technical questions, they are strategic national decisions which will impact millions of lives.
And governments will rely on your independence, your transparency, and the rigour of your evidence-based advice to make them.
You are global experts in immunization.
We are here to strengthen not what you know—but how you act, how you are perceived, and how your work endures.
Our maturity assessment exercise tells an encouraging story on NITAGs technical functioning.
But transparency, sustainable financing, and institutional anchoring remain the unfinished agenda.
The question for 2026 is no longer "Are NITAGs functional?"
It is "Are NITAGs sustainable, accountable, and institutionally strong enough for what lies ahead?"
That is what I hope this orientation helps you begin to answer.
I encourage you to exchange your ways of working, to share your experiences candidly, and identify practical steps to strengthen your institutions.
Beyond new vaccines and technologies, the future of immunization also depends on strong national institutions capable of making sound, timely and trusted decisions.
NITAGs are among the most important of those institutions.
Before I conclude, I want to extend my sincere thanks to ADB for its excellent partnership in implementing this programme, and to ADB for its valuable support.
Through this innovative collaboration, we are investing not just in the capacity of NITAGs, but in the future of evidence-informed public health decision-making itself.
To each of you: thank you for your commitment and leadership.
The 38 million lives this Region saved did not happen by accident. They happened because, at every step, people like you made the right decision at the right time.
That work continues, and it continues with you.
I wish you a productive and successful three days.
Thank you.