SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY, (DCOMM) – The 22nd Annual Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA) 2024 and the 13th World Immunization Week (WIW) commenced on Saturday, April 20 and runs through 27 April, and is taking place throughout the Americas to prevent childhood diseases under the umbrella of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
The vaccine-preventable disease campaign is taking place under the theme “Engage now to protect your future #GetVac.”
The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor, Section Youth Health Care Baby Wellness Clinic, stands in solidarity with the VWA campaign, and is encouraging persons to check their vaccination records to ensure that they and their children are up to date.
The campaign focuses on the protection afforded by vaccines as a crucial part of ensuring an active life. Countries will aim to reach more than 83.5 million people across the Region with almost 156 million doses of different life-saving vaccines.
It is very important for every child to get vaccinated against childhood diseases which prevents illness, disability and death from vaccine-preventable diseases including cervical cancer, diphtheria, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, pertussis (whooping cough), pneumonia, polio, rotavirus, diarrhea, rubella, and tetanus.
The vaccine that prevents the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) protect girls ages nine to 14 and affords them lifelong protection against cervical cancer, one of the main causes of death among women.
In 2023 there were significant increases in the number of measles cases and outbreaks globally, including in 40 of the 53 countries of the European region.
In January 2024, the WHO Region of the Americas issued an epidemiological alert for measles, urging countries in the region to continue with activities to increase and maintain adequate vaccination coverage against measles, rubella, and mumps. Therefore, it is important to make sure your vaccine records are up to date.
Failure to effectively implement and maintain routine vaccination coverage leaves children susceptible to diseases such as polio, tetanus, measles, and diphtheria, according to PAHO. PAHO adds that 15 out of every 100 children in the Americas are only partially protected against vaccine-preventable diseases.
Vaccines remain the best option of protection in eliminating childhood diseases.
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