Immunisation is estimated to save 2-3 million lives every year, yet too many people still do not have access to these life-saving tools. Globally, an estimated 23 million children under the age of one year did not receive basic vaccines, which is the highest number since 2009, according to the World Health Organization.
World Immunisation Week, celebrated from April 24th- 30th each year, 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, aim to highlight the collective action needed to ensure that every person is protected from vaccine-preventable diseases.
This year’s theme is ‘The Big Catch-Up’, and according to WHO, it is working with partners to accelerate rapid progress in countries, to get back on track to ensure more people, particularly children, are protected from preventable diseases.
WHO said, “2023 is our global opportunity to catch-up on lost progress in essential immunisation. We need to reach the millions of children who missed out on vaccines, restore essential immunisation coverage to at least 2019 levels, strengthen primary healthcare to deliver immunisation, and build lasting protection in communities and countries.”
It has been 20 years since the beginning of Vaccination Week in the Americas and 45 years since EPI (Immunisation Programme) started in Guyana.
According to the WHO, this year’s campaign comes at an especially critical time, as the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted essential health services, including routine immunisation, setting back progress by more than a decade. This, according to WHO, has unfortunately led to millions of people still missing out on the life-saving benefits of vaccines, making it urgent to catch up and reach those who have been missed.
As World Immunisation Week approaches, here in Guyana, there is a desperate plea for persons, more so teenagers, to take their vaccines.
Globally, with respect to general vaccination, despite a coordinated effort to boost coverage rates over the past decade, the WHO stated, over 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.
When a child or adult who is unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated visits a health facility for any reason, their vaccination record should be checked by healthcare workers, and they should be given all vaccines they are missing.
In Guyana’s context, health care workers have been recognised for their tireless efforts in conducting community outreaches to meet the general vaccination targets.
That said, Guyana’s immunisation programme has been largely successful, and has resulted in the eradication of illnesses such as polio, yellow fever, and measles, among other diseases. We urge all stakeholders to utilise World Vaccination Week, which is dedicated to immunisation, to spread the message of the need to be vaccinated, especially in Guyana’s remote areas, where health officials still seem to be facing some challenges.
The WHO and its partners hope to improve vaccination rates in the developing world through targets set by the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP). The primary goal of this Vaccination 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.
We therefore urge that Guyanese take their jabs, as, for centuries, vaccines have kept people healthy.
