Benand is a health promoter and walks the streets of Goma (Democratic Republic of the Congo) with a megaphone to remind parents of the importance of taking their children to the health center to get vaccinated.
In DRC, the country with the most unimmunized children in the world, where more than 6,000 children died from measles in 2019, UNICEF has launched a campaign in the Kinsasha, Sopo and Maindobe regions to vaccinate three million children out of zero. to five years against polio, a disease from which Africa is free.
"It is very important to note that because it is eradicated, vaccination must not be abandoned, but rather it must be maintained and reinforced," says Blanca Carazo, head of international programs at the Spanish Unicef Committee, at the presentation this Tuesday of # PequeñasSoluciones, the initiative that she wants to remember the power of vaccines to save lives and prevent thousands of child deaths from preventable diseases such as measles or pneumonia.
The 13 million children who do not receive any vaccines and other data on immunization in the world
Measles: the childhood collateral epidemic of covid-19
WHO warns of an "alarming" drop in childhood vaccination
In 2019, about 14 million children did not receive any vaccines.
Many of them live in remote rural locations, urban slums and conflict-affected areas, making it difficult or even disruptive to health routines and vaccination programs.
Immunization coverage has been stagnant at 85% for years, according to UNICEF, and the pandemic could have worsened the data.
"The ideal is to achieve 95%, with which we would achieve herd immunity," says Carazo.
As in other areas, geography is key in health indicators, also in vaccination.
In countries such as the Central African Republic, Somalia, Chad, Guinea, Papua New Guinea or South Sudan, the coverage rates for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis do not reach 50%.
In other words, more than half of the boys and girls are unprotected against preventable infections.
"It is essential that efforts against the coronavirus complement, without postponing in any case, those dedicated to the fight against other diseases that are still there, threatening the health and lives of the smallest, especially the most vulnerable", says Javier Martos, Executive Director of Unicef Spain.
While the world urgently awaits a vaccine for COVID-19, many other immunization doses have not reached millions of people because of the paralysis of health services around the world.
Last July, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned about the "alarming decrease" in the vaccination of children.
More than 133 countries have delayed their campaigns against measles so far this year and 80 million children are at risk of dying from measles, polio and diphtheria.
But little by little, health routines are making their way again, despite the restrictions due to the pandemic.
"For three days, in Yemen, a team has been working to vaccinate 500,000 mothers between 15 and 49 years old in seven regions, through mobile brigades and in health centers, against maternal and neonatal tetanus," says Carazo, of Unicef.
There are big problems with #SmallSolutions 💉
Vaccines save lives, so nothing stops us from taking them to the most remote places.
This is how we reach children like Sahid.
Thousands of children like him need vaccines to survive.
Help them: https://t.co/iQvRrhuxSn pic.twitter.com/dui6s94IcQ
- UNICEF Spain (@unicef_es) October 20, 2020
The population's access to a vaccine, the strengthening of health systems and the dissemination of information on the importance of immunization are the three great challenges that UNICEF faces.
“It is essential that we build trust in the families and communities we reach.
As an example of this, I would like to highlight the work done by Carmen Garrigós, a recently deceased colleague, who spoke with the Taliban so that the mobile brigades that supplied the polio vaccine in Afghanistan could reach the most remote places ”, recalls Carazo .
Vaccination is, according to Martos, an “inexpensive, simple and effective” solution that saves between two and three million children's lives every year, but also a gateway for further progress to achieve other fundamental rights of children, according to Carazo pointed out: “In our last campaign in Guinea Bissau, in addition to vaccinating and introducing treatments against malnutrition, we carried out a birth registry.
In this way, in addition to improving health care, we gave them their right to identity and to exist ”.
Preparations for the arrival of the vaccine against covid-19
UNICEF has decided to anticipate the arrival of the covid-19 vaccine and has begun to work on a fast, safe and efficient delivery of the immunization dose against SARS-CoV-2.
The organization has decided to accumulate in what is considered the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world a total of 520 million syringes, as the first step of a plan that includes the total purchase of 1 billion syringes in 2021.
"Vaccinating the entire world against covid-19 is going to be one of the most important companies in the history of humanity and we will need to act as quickly as vaccines are produced," says Henrietta Fore, executive director of UNICEF.
The Global Alliance for Immunization and Vaccination (Gavi), recently awarded the Princess of Asturias Award for its work, is expected to reimburse Unicef for the cost of acquiring this medical material that will be used for the Global Access Mechanism for Vaccines against covid-19 (COVAX Mechanism) and for other Gavi immunization projects, if necessary.
We're getting ready for COVID-19 vaccines with enough syringes to wrap around the world one and a half times. # VaccinesWork pic.twitter.com/mjhWHPs8Nv
- UNICEF (@UNICEF) October 19, 2020
In addition to syringes, UNICEF is in the process of purchasing five million security packages to prevent health center personnel from taking risks such as needle sticks and exposure to blood-borne diseases.
The material that has accumulated has a useful life of five years.
In addition to saving time, Unicef ensures that buying this material in advance reduces pressure on the market and prevents peaks in demand that could occur when vaccines are available.
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