World Immunization Week 2017: #VaccinesWork

19 April 2017, Cairo – On the occasion of  World Immunization Week – celebrated annually between 24 and 30 April  – WHO highlights the vital importance of immunization as the most cost-effective preventative intervention in public health. Under the theme “#VaccinesWork”, World Immunization Week in 2017 calls on governments and all stakeholders to ensure strong country commitment for immunization as a priority, demand immunization as a right and responsibility and equitably extend the benefits of immunization to all people. It also highlights the progress achieved over the past years in introducing new vaccines and increasing vaccination coverage and outlines the challenges facing many countries in closing the immunization gap to meet global vaccination targets by 2020.  Immunization prevents around 3 million deaths annually; however, an additional 1.5 million lives could be saved if global vaccination coverage improves. The Global Vaccine Action Plan, endorsed by WHO’s 194 Member States during the World Health Assembly in May 2012, and the Eastern Mediterranean vaccine action plan, endorsed by the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean in 2015, provide a framework to prevent millions of deaths by 2020 through the provision of more equitable access to existing vaccines for people in all communities. Despite the progress in vaccination coverage worldwide, vaccination targets remain off track. “3.8 million children under one year of age in the R...
Source: WHO EMRO News - Category: Middle East Health Source Type: news