Immunisation is estimated to save between 2 and 3 million lives every year, yet too many people still do not have access to these life-saving tools. Globally, one child in seven children is excluded from the full benefits of vaccines, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). World Immunisation Week, celebrated from April 24th – 30th, aims to promote vaccines as a way to protect people against diseases. Immunisation saves millions of lives every year, and is one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions.
These observances, the WHO emphasises, aims to highlight the collective action needed to ensure that every person is protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. This year’s theme: “Protected Together, #VaccinesWork”, encourages people at every level – from donors to the general public – to go further in their efforts to increase immunization coverage for the greater good.
It has been sixteen years since the beginning of Vaccination Week in the Americas, and 41 years since EPI (Immunisation Programme) started in Guyana. In her message on the occasion, Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, proudly announced that Guyana’s vaccination coverage continues to be 90% and above for the under-5 population. She said, too, that for the last 30 years, Guyana has been free of several vaccine-preventable diseases, including poliomyelitis, diphtheria and yellow fever.
This year’s local theme, ‘Strengthen your defense, get vax’, she said, is appropriate since, for the past years, the Ministry has placed an ardent focus on Guyana’s borders and points of entry. As such, both active and passive surveillance systems have been strengthened to keep at bay the diseases that spate and have caused epidemics in our neighbouring countries of Brazil and Venezuela.
At the beginning of its immunisation programme, Guyana sought coverage primarily for its young children five years and under, from birth to their last dose; however, according to the Minister, during the last years, this programme has expanded across the life cycle to encompass pregnant women and the elderly. “Our focus has shifted to strengthening the defences of each member of the household as we provide coverage for our most-at-risk groups,” the Public Health Minister stated. She also underscored the fact that the coverage extends to the military and armed forces, teachers, health care workers, children, and adolescents.
Despite a coordinated effort to boost coverage rates over the past decade, the WHO states, 19.5 million infants still do not have access to vaccines that protect against life-threatening yet easily preventable diseases, such as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and rotavirus.
According to WHO statistics, approximately 60% of these under-vaccinated children reside in only 10 countries (coloured pink): Angola, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa. Overall, GlobalData believes that a strong patient-provider relationship, coupled with public awareness campaigns that tout the benefits of vaccination while simultaneously debunking anti-vaccine beliefs, are essential to bridging these diverse coverage gaps across the developing and developed world.
In Guyana’s context, healthcare workers have been recognised for their tireless efforts in conducting community outreaches to meet the vaccination targets. In addition, the Public Health Ministry also congratulated parents for their role in ensuring that their children receive the appropriate vaccines that could ultimately save their lives.
The WHO and its partners hope to improve vaccination rates in the developing world through targets set by the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP). However, a 2017 status report revealed that progress toward achieving these goals by 2020 is behind schedule. The primary goal of this week’s global initiatives, therefore, is to increase vaccination coverage by raising awareness of the importance of immunisation among parents and caregivers, health care professionals, policy and decision-makers, and the media.
