Watching my kids grow out of their clothes into new ones was
one of my favorite things to see. I
loved our time when we played dress -up for hours and dreamed of the people my
kids would become as they grew older. I
remember my children dressing up as a doctor, an artist, attorney, etc. and of
how wonderful it felt to dress up and play these roles. Now that my children have grown up and are
preparing to contribute to humanity with the roles of responsibility that they
played as children. It all makes me more
grateful for the blessing of vaccines and the protection they provide to ensure
children live to grow and play dress-up, and dream.
For the last 50 years the continued development and use of
vaccines has been one of the most cost-effective ways for saving lives and
preventing illness that kill our children, especially children in developing
countries. Routine Vaccinations
campaigns have prevented the deaths of hundreds of millions of people and saved
billions of dollars in public health expenditures. Just to give an idea how effective in saving
lives vaccines have been, look at some interesting facts.
Smallpox: Smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300 – 500
million deaths. In 1967 the World Health
Organization (WHO) that 15 million people contracted the disease… and 2 million
died of it that year. But now, thanks to
vaccines, smallpox is eradicated.
Polio: After World War II polio was one of the most feared
diseases in the USA. In 1952 it is
estimated that 21,000 people in the US – mostly children – were permanently
paralyzed because of polio. Thanks to
polio vaccinations, five million people that otherwise be paralyzed are walking
and polio cases are down 99%... down to 1349 cases in a year.
Measles: Measles are far more contagious than chickenpox, leading
to deafness, blindness, encephalitis and death.
In May 2011 the Measles Initiative announced that it had vaccinated over
one billion children in 60 countries – decreasing deaths globally by over
78%.
Pneumonia: Pneumococcal is a bacterial disease that can
cause meningitis and pneumonia.
Pneumonia one of the common symptom accounts for 18% of child deaths in
developing countries. In 2010 the GAVI
Alliance began a program to introduce pneumococcal vaccinations to more of 40
countries by 2015. Once at full
capacity, the program would save 700,000 lives.
Rotavirus: Claim the lives of more the half a million
children under the age of five and almost two million more became severely
ill. In Mexico, diarrhea-related child
deaths decreased by 46% following the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine in
2006. That represents a decreased of 880
deaths for year.
I am so familiar
with the rotavirus and the effects of the lack of vaccines in my own country,
Mexico. As a former nurse there, I saw
many children and their parents suffer the effects of not being
vaccinated. Sometimes because they
didn’t have the economic resources or because they live too far away to get to
a clinic in time to get vaccinate and receive medical care. In our immunizations campaigns in rural
areas, mothers will walk for miles and make long lines in the hot sun waiting
for the vaccines. I saw the scars of
polio, chickenpox, measles in some moms and dads and can saw how afraid they
were we don’t have enough vaccines for all.
They knew so well the pain and agony of losing a precious child’s life.
They knew the power of vaccines and they love their children so much that they
will wait all day if need it.
Rotavirus claim the lives of people very
close to me. As of matter of fact in 1970
my first nephew die of Rotavirus because my older brother live in a tiny town
faraway without access to vaccines and medical care. Many children die before we have the rotavirus
vaccine.
It is amazing to me the progress and the many
lives that can be saved by vaccines. It
is even more amazing that I was born in a developing country in a time
a place that my parents were able to give me a shot of life, play dress with
some of my peers and see my children play dress and dream too. Sadly many of my same age Mexican friends citizens
were not lucky enough because they were born in a rural community that don’t
have access to immunizations and medical care and as consequence many of them
die from easily preventable diseases.
In developing
countries many children never grow up to play dress up and dream of what they
will be when they are older instead the
only play dress up that they will wear is the funeral clothes that they will
wear in their funeral. So many children
die every 20 seconds children like the beautiful face of this picture. We have the power to change that statistic
and make sure that mothers around the world have the chance to see their
children live, dream and play dress up.
