SVG joins world in celebrating 13th Vaccination Week

The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment joins the rest of the world in celebrating the 13th Vaccination Week in the Americas, during the period April 25 to May 2, 2015.

The regional slogan for VWA 2015 is “Boost your power! Get vaccinated!” The slogan indicates that vaccines are weakened or killed pathogens that help the immune system fight diseases and prepare the body to fight off disease when exposed to full strength pathogens in the future.{{more}}

During this week, the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment is “providing a visible platform to raise population awareness regarding the importance of immunization, to highlight the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, to keep vaccines on the forefront of political agendas, and to highlight the gains of the immunization program,” a release from the organizers said.

According to the release, the immunization programme in St Vincent and the Grenadines has made enormous strides in reducing morbidity and mortality caused by vaccine preventable diseases, and our national coverage level for primary child-hood vaccine is maintained at over 95 per cent.

“Despite these gains and high coverage, we still have to be vigilant and continue to promote immunization as the best public health intervention, and also place Immunization as a priority area for public health, even though diseases such as polio and measles rarely affect people in SVG. These diseases still exist in other countries and travelers can unknowingly bring these diseases into the country and infect people who have not been immunized. Without the protection from immunization, these diseases could quickly spread through the population, causing epidemics,” the release said.

Vaccination week in the Americas is an initiative of the countries and territories of the Americas which work to advance equity and access to vaccination. This initiative focuses on reaching populations with limited access to regular health services and promotes solidarity among countries.