India, July 16 -- Vaccines save millions of lives every year through disease prevention and reduced morbidity. With considerable State and private sector support across the globe, national immunisation programmes are taken to recipients' doorstep in many countries, greatly eliminating the price and access barriers. It is for this reason that the latest World Health Organization (WHO) figure of 13.5 million "zero dose" children in 2025 for the three-dose schedule of the diptheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) vaccine is worrisome. Add to it the under-vaccinated children, and the population of infants outside the cover of full immunisation rises to 20 million. India saw close to 700,000 "zero dose" cases last year compared to 1.6 million such cas...