WASHINGTON (AP) – A record 106 million infants were vaccinated last year against life-threatening diseases, but nearly one in five babies still aren't fully protected, global health authorities reported yesterday.

To get the full round of first-year vaccinations to children in the poorest countries will take another $1 billion a year, says the report from the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and World Bank.

Most of the unprotected babies are in Asia and Africa, particularly in rural or strife-torn areas that are difficult for aid workers to reach.

It's a good investment, the report argued. Vaccination is preventing 2.5 million child deaths a year. But if 90 percent of the world's children under age five got the vaccinations that are routine in wealthy countries, another two million deaths a year could be prevented by 2015.