During this African Vaccination Week, Niyel, an international advocacy, campaigns and public affairs agency, reaffirms its commitment alongside its partners to promote vaccination and highlight its benefits for public health in Africa.
DAKAR, Senegal, April 30, 2024 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- Every year in April, Africa celebrates African Vaccination Week, a crucial moment to raise awareness of the importance of vaccination and to highlight its essential role in protecting public health. The theme of this year 2024 “Humanly possible” aims to remind leaders and populations that it is vital to preserve the results achieved and to intensify funding for vaccination in order to avoid the resurgence of certain preventable diseases.
Over the past 50 years, vaccines have saved nearly 154 million lives, or more than 3 million lives in one year or six people every minute for five decades. In the same period, vaccination reduced child mortality by 40%, according to WHO figures.
“Vaccination is one of the most effective, safe and accessible public health interventions in the world,” says Dr. Rachel Tanou on the occasion of the launching ceremony of the CSO Here Zaka series of activitieson the sidelines of the African Vaccination Week 2024. “It has saved millions of lives and eradicated devastating diseases like smallpox. Vaccines protect not only individuals, but entire communities by creating herd immunity that prevents diseases from spreading.”
Since its launch in 1974, the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) has successfully introduced several vaccines, thus helping to prevent very serious diseases. At least 13 pathologies are now preventable thanks to the adoption of EPI, including tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis B, whooping cough, Hib infections leading to meningitis, pneumococcal infections , rubella and measles, rotavirus diarrhea and cervical cancer.
The recent introduction of vaccines against malaria and HPV represents a major advance for public health in Africa. These new vaccines provide important protection against diseases that disproportionately affect African populations. Malaria is the leading cause of child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, while HPV is responsible for a significant number of cervical cancers on the continent.
However, it is important to remember that challenges persist, such as disparities in access to vaccines and distrust in some communities. African Vaccination Week is therefore a moment of mobilization to renew the commitment to vaccinate all children and to ensure that vaccination remains an accessible and effective tool to save lives and improve the health of African populations.
In this logic, Niyel, through his “Healthy and Safe” campaign, leads factual advocacy on the benefits of vaccines, based on scientific data and testimonies. The goal is to change the narrative about vaccination and counter the misinformation that is circulating.
“Ensuring healthy human capital is the best investment that can be made to a community, to a nation” says Laetitia Badolo, Director of Advocacy and Impact at Niyel. “Vaccination is one of the most effective public health tools we have at our disposal. This is a crucial investment in the health of children and communities.”
“With the vaccination of my children, I am more serene. I think they are protected against serious diseases and have a better chance of growing up healthy. This takes both psychological and financial weight off my shoulders when we know what the exorbitant costs of care costs in our hospitals represent.” testifies Ms. Bara, seller in the informal sector and mother of 4 children.
For Niyel and his partners, this is an opportunity to celebrate the progress made and to call for a remobilization of States, including those in middle-income countries, for increased financing of vaccines. “Today, we have the opportunity to remind humanity that it has a role to play in preserving lives,” added Ms. Badolo.
African Immunization Week is an annual event that runs alongside other Immunization Week initiatives in other WHO Regions and the Global Immunization Week scheduled for the last week of April (April 24-30). The vaccine is one of modern medicine’s most effective tools for preventing infectious diseases. It works by exposing the immune system to a weakened or inactive form of a pathogen, allowing the body to develop immunity to the actual disease.
Distributed byAfrican Media Agency for Niyel.
About Niyel
Niyel is an international advocacy, campaigns and public affairs agency based in Dakar that works with different partners to create change in policies and practices in various sectors and on human rights issues. Since 2021, Niyel has engaged in vaccine advocacy and routine immunization in Africa.
For more information on the actions taken by Niyel, please contact:
Abdoul Fadil ZEBA – Advocacy Assistant – [email protected] – (+221) 77-680-22-45
The post Niyel: An unfailing commitment to vaccination in Africa appeared first on African Media Agency.
Source : African Media Agency (AMA)