The Ministry of Health is this year rolling out two additional vaccines as part of the routine immunisation schedule for children under 12 months.
The vaccines are Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) to prevent pneumonia and other diseases caused by the pneumococcal bacteria, and RV vaccine to prevent diarrhoea caused by rotavirus (RV).
In addition, building on the pilot in Shefa province, the nationwide rollout of the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) is planned for this year as well.
“Vaccination is a crucial public health intervention in Vanuatu that has been protecting Ni Vanuatu for many years and will continue to do so in the future to come”, said National Coordinator for the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Simo Simon.
“Last year, there was an outbreak of measles in the Pacific and Vanuatu was fortunate that our children were protected through vaccines,” Simon added.
‘In saying this, Vanuatu has many challenges to reaching the last child on the remote islands of Vanuatu with all of the vital vaccines children should receive by the time they celebrate their first birthday.
Simon made the comments as Vanuatu commemorated World Immunisation Week held from 24 to 30 April.
World Immunization Week aims to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against any disease.
Immunization saves millions of lives every year and is widely recognized as one of the world’s most successful public health interventions.
In Vanuatu, the Ministry of Health as achieved many successes over the past years.
Vanuatu has been successful enable control of measles hence there was a successful halt of measles transmission for more than 36 months since 2015, and 2019 widespread outbreaks in the Pacific sub region.
The Ministry of Health through its Expanded Programme on Immunization, routine immunization coverage has shown improvement, however, many children are not vaccinated or late vaccinations threatening achievements to date and their sustainability.
This year’s immunization week campaign, using the theme ‘Vaccines bring us closer’, is urging greater engagement around immunization nationally.
This is to promote the importance of vaccination in bringing people together, and improving the health and wellbeing of everyone, everywhere throughout life in Vanuatu.
The Ministry of Health continues to implement its routine immunisation programme with technical and financial support from key partners including the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the Australian Government and the ADB.
While the world focuses on critically important new vaccines to protect against COVID-19, there remains a need to ensure routine vaccinations are not missed.
Photo supplied Caption: Ministry of Health nurses vaccinating children