Immunization Week in America 2022: Act Now to Protect Your Future #GetVaccinated

Washington, DC

Good morning to all who are with us.

Today we are here to celebrate the 22nd edition of Immunization Week in America. Every year in April, more than 40 countries and territories in the Americas come together to vaccinate their populations, making a special effort to reach people who do not have regular access to health services, giving a -indigenous people, migrants, border populations and those who live on it. the outskirts of the city.

Immunization Week has been a flagship campaign of our Group for more than 20 years, helping more than 1.15 billion people in our region receive life-saving vaccines.

This year, Immunization Week will be celebrated between April 20 and 27, with the motto “Act now to protect your future #GetVaccinated.” This year’s campaign will focus on the protection offered by vaccines as a vital part of ensuring an active life. Our countries aim to reach more than 83.5 million people with almost 156 million doses.

Historically, our Department has always been a leader in disease eradication. However, for more than a decade, vaccination coverage has declined significantly due to a number of factors. Among them, the false belief that disease eradication or control no longer represents a threat to human health; vaccination programs fell down the priority list; health services have not adapted their vaccination offer to current demands and lifestyles in a way that allows people access; sufficient training of health professionals on issues such as the effectiveness and safety of vaccines; and an increase in misinformation and anti-vaccination sentiment, particularly from the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, thanks to the great effort made by countries in recent years, we have managed to get our coverage levels back to pre-pandemic levels. For example, reaching 91% coverage for the first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine. Results like these are encouraging on our road to recovery.

Despite improvements, in 2022, 1.2 million children under the age of 1 had never received a vaccine dose. At the same time, two million children under the age of 1 year – that is, 15 out of every 100 children – are still partially protected against vaccine-preventable diseases in the region. Furthermore, when it comes to measles vaccines, we have not yet reached our pre-pandemic coverage levels. This is a matter of great concern, given the increase in measles cases worldwide and the contagious nature of this virus. We are also far from the 90% vaccination coverage we want to achieve for girls aged 9 to 14 against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), which gives them lifelong protection against breast cancer, one of the leading causes of death among women. .

As we work towards recovery, we continue to face some ongoing challenges to our immunization programs:

• Commitment: Political commitment to a COVID-19 vaccine must be translated into routine vaccination programs.
• Resources: Expand financial and technical resources to improve the delivery of essential immunization services, remove barriers to access and ensure everyone’s guaranteed right to immunization.
• Vaccination: Establish effective communication strategies to adequately respond to the need for more information about vaccines and combat anti-vaccination movements that spread false information.

PAHO will continue to support vaccination efforts in the countries and territories of the Americas.

PAHO’s regional vaccine procurement mechanism – the Revolving Fund for Vaccine Access, which provided 130 million vaccine doses to countries in 2022 and 2023 – will continue to ensure access to safe, quality vaccines at affordable prices for our region. The Fund currently offers 76 products, including polio, measles, flu and HPV vaccines, as well as syringes and cold chain equipment. In addition, PAHO’s special program, the Regional Innovation and Production Platform, continues to support the production of regional vaccines, which will not only benefit the American countries in times of crisis , but will help improve access to vaccines for regular programs.

Our ultimate goal remains to support countries as they strengthen disease surveillance, increase vaccination coverage levels in every part of their national country, and prevent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Finally, I would like to ask the public to trust, protect and support vaccines. For more than two centuries we have enjoyed the benefits of vaccines. We have been able to live happier, healthier, longer and more active lives, reducing the risk of vaccine-preventable diseases. This was only possible thanks to the trust we put in our vaccination programs, and we cannot let our guard down. Vaccines keep us and our loved ones protected against more than 20 diseases and must continue to play a central role in our societies.

So act now and protect your future. Get vaccinated and get your loved ones vaccinated.

THANK YOU.

Dr Jarbas Barbosa