Did you know that April 24th -30th is World Immunization Week?
During this week, organizations around the world raise their voices to
educate, promote, and increase the rates of immunization against vaccine
preventable diseases.
As a former nurse from a developing
country I still remember walking into small rural towns and seeing children
with distended abdomens; suffering from measles, diarrhea, and other childhood
diseases. I witnessed firsthand the pain
and sorrow of many mothers when their children were suffering. I remember
their stoic faces as they held back tears while holding their dead child in
their arms. I witnessed how diarrhea took the lives of so many little children
because mothers did not realize their children could die from it, and saw a two-year-old
child with measles in excruciating pain.
The sad part is that all these childhood diseases could have been
prevented with a simple vaccine.Vaccine-preventable diseases like polio, measles, diarrhea and pneumonia are real and kill many children every year. A simple vaccine can make the difference between life and death for these children in developing countries and prevention is a relatively low cost. For instance, for less than $1 US dollar, a child can be safely and effectively vaccinated against measles. $20.00 will vaccinate a child for life against polio, measles, pneumonia and diarrhea. In contrast, treatment costs for a child who falls ill from one of those diseases can reach upwards of $100.
In developing countries, many mothers never see their children
live to have their 5th birthday . Instead of celebrating a birthday,
they have to prepare for their child’s burial.
Here are the facts:
- Vaccine preventable diseases claim the lives of 1.5 million children every year – one child every 20 seconds, accounting for nearly one quarter of all childhood deaths.
- Measles, one of the most contagious and infectious diseases, kills an estimated 450 people each day – the majority of whom are young children.
- Polio, a disease that once paralyzed more the 1,000 children a day, has dropped 99% in the last 20 years due to vaccination campaigns, leaving the world nearly polio free. However, until fully eradicated, polio anywhere is threat to children everywhere.
- By contrast, immunization prevents more than 2.5 million deaths every year in the past two decades.
- Two of the most common causes of child death-pneumonia and diarrhea- can be prevented by existing vaccines.
- By scaling-up the delivery of vaccines in 72 of the world's poorest countries from 2011-2020, we can save $151 billion through reduced treatment costs and gains in productivity.
I witnessed the present day need for childhood immunization first hand while on
a trip to Uganda with Shot@Life during the fall of 2012. We visited the Ugandan
districts of Mumbende and Fort Portal and saw work being done by UNICEF through
their “Family Health Days” initiative after church and mosque services. During these “Family Health Days,” families
received free deworming tablets, vitamins, measles and polio vaccines for their
children, and HIV and high blood pressure testing for
adults. Mothers with their children lined
up and waited patiently to receive needed medical care.
It’s also important to realize that these diseases can become a local issue and
a national issue, not just for other countries, but for the US as well. We are living in a global society; we travel
around the world on mission trips, business trips, and family vacations. We have people coming to our country every
day from other countries. It only takes
one person to come in contact with you or you visiting another country to spread
disease. Here in the United States, 129[BB1] cases of measles have been already been reported in 2014. Usually
only about 60 cases in the United States are reported every year. Vaccinations
are not just a global issue, vaccinations are a national issue! We part of the
human race and we have responsibility for the less fortunate. Policymakers,
both here and in Washington, should stand up and support US led global health
programs, specifically programs focused on saving the lives of children in
developing countries by providing them with vaccines. Together, you, I and our
members of Congress can work together to save the life of a child every 20
seconds.
