mariyam Waheedha

‘Protected Together’# VACCINESWORK

‘Protected Together’# VACCINESWORK


Estimated time to read the article : 6 min, 5 secs

In my recent interactions with team of health workers at health center of an island which otherwise maintain a very high immunization coverage; I was told about the hesitancy of family to vaccination. It surely surprised me given the high literacy, in general wide acceptance of vaccines and also the policy requirement of verification of complete immunization at school enrollment.

Vaccine hesitancy, misinformation on social media and myths about the safety of vaccines are all compounding factors which concerns parents, families and communities.
As we celebrate the World Immunization Week from 24-30 April every year; let me reiterate this as an opportunity to raise awareness on such matters and highlight the collective action needed to ensure that every person is protected from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Immunization saves millions of lives and is widely recognized as one of the world’s most successful and cost-effective health interventions.For economically-smart countries like Maldives, Immunization is especially important. Every $1 spent on childhood immunization returns $44 in economic and social benefits. If we increase vaccine coverage in low- and middle-income countries by 2030, we could prevent 24 million people from falling into poverty due to health expenses.

When all the people in the community take vaccine, it has a community protective effect. This protects infants, older adults at risk of serious diseases and people who take medication that lowers their immune system. Thus, higher the immunization rate, widerthe community is protected.

Expanding access to immunization is crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Routine immunization is a building block of strong primary health care and universal health coverage—it provides a point of contact for health care at the beginning of life and offers every child the chance at a healthy life from the start.Immunization is also a fundamental strategy in achieving other health priorities, from controlling viral hepatitis, to curbing antimicrobial resistance, to providing a platform for adolescent health and improving antenatal and newborn care.

The Maldives immunization program has made remarkable progress over the years. From the inception of the immunization program in 1976, continuous effort and commitment has been in place to include new vaccines, improve quality of the programme and sustain high coverage. Maldives Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (MTAGI) - an independent group; plays an active role in advising Ministry of Health to take evidence based policy decisions.

Maldives has been certified by WHOas having eliminated Polio, Neonatal tetanus and most recently Measles. These achievements are due to the concertedefforts of many health professionals, community engagement, coupled with increased public awareness and high immunization coverage for decades. The travel vaccine program continues to provide Meningitis, Influenza and Polio vaccines to large numbers of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims each year. Yellow fever vaccines are provided to those travelling to endemic countries.

Strong commitment of Government and a robust immunization program gives me enough confidence and optimism to advocate and strongly recommend introduction of newer vaccines which are safe, effective and will expand the protection. Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine for young girls of 9-14 years age for prevention of cervical cancer and annual Seasonal Flu Vaccine for high risk and vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, elderly, people with chronic conditions and importantly health workers are amongst the strongest candidate vaccines that should be considered for early introduction.

We owe the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus, polio and measles to parents who got their children vaccinated and all the health staff, past and present who ensured the immunization coverage remains high and made the Maldives immunization program as one of the strongest.

Let me restate and reinforce that all vaccines offered through Government Immunization program are scientifically proven to be safe, effective and are per WHO recommendations. We should not let any myth or misinformation come in the way of protecting our children from these preventable diseases. Please note the immunization remains amongst the best buys to protect people, especially children, and essential to keep the nation healthy.

I call upon all parents, teachers, families and communities at large to shed their hesitation and be confident in protecting your children with vaccines. For the island that I visited; I am sure concerted and combined efforts of health workers will address the misinformation and convince the parents and family of the benefits of vaccination. “Protected Together, #VACCINESWORK”