Immunization ‘game-changers’ should be the norm worldwide, says UN health agency
A health worker immunizes a pregnant woman inside at health center in Aurangabad, India. Photo: UNICEF/Dhiraj Singh
GENEVA, 21 April 2016 (UN News Service): The UN World Health Organization (WHO) announced that during World Immunization Week 2016, which begins Sunday, it will be highlighting recent gains in immunization coverage, and outlining further steps countries can take to meet global vaccination targets by 2020.
“Last year immunization led to some notable wins in the fight against polio, rubella (røde hunde) and maternal and neonatal tetanus (stivkrampe),” says Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General, in a press release.
“But they were isolated wins. Polio was eliminated in one country, tetanus in three, and rubella in one geographical region. The challenge now is to make gains like this the norm,” she added.
According to WHO, immunization averts two to three million deaths annually; however, an additional 1.5 million deaths could be avoided if global vaccination coverage improves.
Today, an estimated 18.7 million infants – nearly one in five children worldwide – are still missing routine immunizations for preventable diseases, such as diphtheria (difteri), pertussis (kighoste) and tetanus.
Mere om difteri på http://www.netdoktor.dk/sygdomme/fakta/difteri.htm
In 2012, the World Health Assembly endorsed the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), a commitment to ensure that no one misses out on vital immunizations. Despite gains in vaccination coverage in some regions and countries the past year, global vaccination targets remain off track.
WHO noted that only one out of six targets is on track – the introduction of new or underutilized vaccines in low- and middle-income countries.
During the past five years, 86 low- and middle-income countries have made 128 introductions of the following vaccines: Hib-containing vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), rotavirus vaccine, human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV), rubella and inactivated polio vaccine.
The target is to introduce one or more new or underutilized vaccines in at least 90 low- and middle-income countries by 2015.
Game-changers in immunization
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http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53746#.Vxv8CByQeKI
Se også
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2016/04/19/vaccination-boost-for-pakistans-children-world-bank-and-partners-provide-new-funding-for-immunization
