Vaccination Week in the Americas 2013 20-27 April

Starting 20 April, the Cayman Islands join hands with other countries in the American Region to celebrate Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA) with the theme : Vaccination: A shared responsibility.

VWA is an annual hemispheric event endorsed by the Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) aiming to save persons

from deadly diseases. It began in 2003, as a result of a proposal in 2002 by the Ministers of Health in the Andean Region after a measles outbreak in Venezuela and Colombia.

Within a decade, more than 411 million people had been vaccinated against a wide variety of diseases. Yet, even today, globally an estimated

22 million infants are not fully immunized, and more than 1.5 million children, under the age of five, die from diseases that could be prevented by vaccination.

According to the World Health Organization, immunization is one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions of the 20th century. It prevents between two and three million deaths every year. From infants to senior citizens, immunization protects against diseases such as polio, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), measles, rubella, pneumonia, rotavirus diarrhea, tetanus and many more.

The benefits of immunization continue into adolescence and adulthood, providing protection against life-threatening diseases such as meningitis, influenza, as well as cancers of the liver and cervix.

The countries of the Americas have been world leaders in the elimination and control of vaccine-preventable diseases. The region was the first to eradicate smallpox in 1971 and polio in 1991. The last endemic case of indigenous measles was reported in 2002, and the Caribbean itself has been free of indigenous measles for over 20 years.  Indigenous Rubella (German measles) has also been eliminated from the American region, with the last case reported in 2009. Incidence of other vaccine preventable diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis has decreased significantly.

Here in the Cayman Islands, an immunization programme that is more than

60 years old has eliminated small pox, polio, neonatal tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, rubella (German measles), mumps, and tuberculous meningitis.

As we commemorate the history of this important service in our region, I am pleased that the Cayman Islands are among the leading countries that offer free vaccines to all children.

We take pride in having achieved a 94% of infants immunized and 98% immunization rate at school entry.  At the same time this statistic suggests that our work is incomplete. To reach universal immunization we must continue to share responsibility- that is partnership between both health care workers and parents alike for ensuring that we remember   this year- round, the true meaning of this week-long celebration.   This is that vaccination is an act of love, towards our families and towards our communities.

I urge all parents to check the immunization records of their children, consult relevant health professionals, and get the immunizations up to date.