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In the middle of report of a case of poliomyelitis in a 16-month-old boy in Peru, the Venezuelan Society of Child Care and Pediatrics (SVPP) called for urgently vaccinate the population under 6 years of age contra polio and other diseases like diphtheria and measles.
Through a statement released on March 28, the SVPP Immunization Commission recalled that boys and girls must have five doses of the vaccine against polio to be protected. recommended continue the use of the oral vaccine (bOPV) and apply it in conjunction with inactivated polio vaccines (IPV) in babies under one year of age.
Specialists warn about low vaccination against polio in Venezuela
Due to the possibility of having the disease in the country, they urge the authorities to strengthen epidemiological surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis. In addition, they ask update national polio outbreak preparedness and response plans to detect and respond in a timely manner to an importation of the virus.
Similarly, they require the Ministry of Health carry out dissemination campaigns on the responsibility of keeping children’s vaccinations up to date. They also ask to reinforce vaccination programs and achieve vaccination coverage above 95% in each municipality of the country, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Venezuela at risk
The pediatrician and intensive care physician and secretary of the National Academy of Medicine, Huniades Urbina-Medina, assured that the country is at high risk and the population exposed to diseases that they did not have to appear again if there is adequate vaccination coverage.
Venezuela is submerged in a child vaccination crisis against measles and polio
He explained that in Venezuela Vaccination coverage began to decrease under the excuse of the economic blockade. In this sense, he said that “giant steps are being taken backwards in terms of public health and years of useful life are being taken away from a patient who is infected with an epidemiological disease.”
Given the possibility of considering outbreaks in the country as an imminent risk, the pediatric specialist assured that there are high probabilities. He also indicated that the population is neglected in vaccination, coupled with poverty and malnutrition.
«They are sanitary and shame markers because they talk about the poverty that our childhood is suffering. There is also a risk in older adults who are in a very poor condition compared to the younger age groups,” said Huniades Urbina-Medina.
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He assured that for every dollar invested in a vaccine, 16 dollars return to the State, while the profit for every dollar invested in a government bond is 0.5 dollars. For this reason, he called for paying attention to investment in health, educating and having more vaccinators reach hard-to-reach areas to immunize the vulnerable population.
incomplete vaccinations
The president of the Venezuelan Society of Child Care and Pediatrics, Aragua branch, Alejandro Crespo Freytes, specified that the country has the worst vaccine coverage in America. Therefore, the problem is not only for the nation, but for all the countries in the region.
He commented that five out of ten doses of vaccines that a child requires up to the first year of life are not given and that situation worsened as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Crespo highlighted that Peru has a coverage of the third dose of polio above 70%, while in Venezuela it is 50%. In this sense, he said that the disease will probably not take long to reach the country.
Academy of Medicine asks the Ministry of Health to reinforce vaccination against polio
“It’s not that people don’t go to clinics to vaccinate their children and that mothers are irresponsible, it’s that they go to health centers and tell them to come next week because there are no vaccines or staff,” said the specialist. .
He considered that the Government, in order to improve vaccination, should pay the outstanding debt with the Revolving Fund of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). He also said that it is essential offer better wages to healthcare workers so that they can do their jobs properly.
He said that a dissemination campaign that involves various sectors of society is essential so that information on vaccines reaches each person effectively. He also recommended reaching agreements with different organizations that wish to work in the country.
Mairen Dona LópezHealth
Mairen Dona LópezHealth
