Vaccinations key to protecting children’s health

Vaccines are one of the most important tools for preventing and keeping the world safe. While most children are being vaccinated, it is indeed a matter of huge concern that far too many are also left behind.

As countries mark the World Immunisation Week launched by the World Health Organisation, WHO, in the last week of April, parents and guardians should follow the instructions and advice of physicians and other health workers regarding vaccinations, as advised by the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHaP) officials.

The government agency is keen to continue the provision of vaccines to enhance community immunity, immunise society against infectious diseases as underlined by MoHaP-Health Centres and Clinics undersecretary Dr Hussein Abdel Rahman Al-Rand.

Parents need to visit primary healthcare centres to maintain their health and the health of their children, and avoid diseases by ensuring the safety of vaccines for children and adults.

WHO, which spearheads all global activities related to the promotion of more awareness and adherence to the importance of all vaccines, particularly in these crucial times of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID19) has chosen the theme “Vaccines Work For All.”

The UAE has been doing a commendable job by implementing a free National Immunisation Programme for citizens and residents, which aims to benefit all individuals in the community.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention has responded to the exceptional circumstances imposed by the coronavirus outbreak and confirmed the continuity of the National Immunisation Programme during the current period.

It also implemented preventive measures to counter the virus, including providing separate entrances and exits for people coming to specially allocated immunisation centres and ensuring that they are not exposed to other patients.

The UAE is one of the key supporters of the global efforts aimed at combatting pandemics, such as Guinea worm, polio and malaria, and preventing their spread.

One of the hard lessons WHO learned during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa that other diseases could be forgotten and take a deadlier toll.

The WHO is now warning that the battle against malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, where it already kills hundreds of thousands of people a year, could be set back by 20 years as countries focus energy and resources on containing the coronavirus.

As per WHO, new projections indicate that in a worst-case scenario, 769,000 people could die of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa this year as campaigns to combat it are interrupted.

That’s more than double the deaths in the last detailed count two years ago, when more than 360,000 people died, and would be the worst figures for the region since 2000.

While health experts express fears that the coronavirus pandemic could erode the global fight against many diseases, sub-Saharan Africa is by far the worst affected by malaria.

It had 93% of the world’s cases and 94% of deaths in 2018.

Earlier this month, the Measles and Rubella Initiative said more than 24 countries including South Sudan, Mexico and Bangladesh had suspended immunisations, and that figure could rise to 37.

The most alarming suspension of an immunisation programme has occurred in Congo, where more than 6,000 people have died in the largest current measles outbreak.

The scene is worrisome because more than 117 million children may miss out on receiving possibly life-saving vaccines for measles, which has seen a resurgence in recent years.

Corrective measures need to be initiated.