Africa Vaccination Week, celebrated each year in the last week of April, aims to promote the use of vaccines to protect all Africans against disease. Vaccines are one of the greatest scientific innovations of all time. In the past century, they have brought us closer to ending polio and helped eradicate smallpox. In the last 30 years, vaccines have helped halve child deaths globally. Today, vaccines protect us against over 20 diseases, from pneumonia to cervical cancer and Ebola, saving countless lives every year.