“Are you Up-to-Date?” on Immunization”

“Are you up-to-date?” is the theme of World Immunization week 2014- celebrated from 24th to 30th April-2014. The Objective of the celebration is to create awareness among the community, civil society and promote the cost effective tool which can prevent many of lives in Health perspective

The immunization program is an approach to deal with the preventable diseases via provision of vaccines which ultimately reduces the children and maternal mortality
In Pakistan the immunization program piloted in 1978, later on in 1983 it has been main streamed in the regular health services and turn into the Accelerated Health Program (AHP) in 1985 which shows that the program become popular and effective with the passage of the time in country now we have complete immunization program in Pakistan with the provision of vaccines against 9 major killer diseases to reduce the child and maternal mortality.

It has been proven that the Immunization is widely recognized as one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions ever introduced. It prevents between 2 and 3 million deaths every year and now protects children not only against diseases for which vaccines have been available for many years, such as diphtheria, tetanus, polio and measles, but also against diseases such as pneumonia and rotavirus diarrhoea, two of the biggest killers of children under 5. Furthermore, adolescents and adults can now be protected against life-threatening diseases such as influenza, meningitis, and cancers (cervical and liver cancers), thanks to new and sophisticated vaccines.

Despite this success, 1 in 5 children are still missing out. In 2012 an estimated 22.6 million infants were not reached with routine immunization services. More than half of these children live in just 3 countries: India, Indonesia and Nigeria. Inadequate supply of vaccines, lack of access to health workers, and insufficient political and financial support account for a large proportion of people who start but don’t finish national immunization schedules. A lack of knowledge about vaccination, on the other hand, is one of the key reasons why adults consciously choose not to get vaccinated themselves or to vaccinate their children.

While discussing Pakistan there has been a slow improvement in the percentage of fully immunized
• children age 12-23 months, from 47 percent in 2006-07 to 54 percent in 2012-13.
• Only one-third of children age 12-23 months have a vaccination card.
• Sixteen percent of children under age 5 showed symptoms of acute respiratory infection in the two weeks before the survey; 64 percent of these children were taken to a health facility or care provider for advice or treatment, and 42 percent received antibiotics.
• About 38 percent of children under age 5 had a fever in the two weeks before the survey, and 65 percent of them were taken to a health facility or care provider for advice or treatment.
• Twenty-three percent of children under age 5 had diarrhea in the two weeks before the survey.
• The proportion of children with diarrhea taken to a health care provider for advice or treatment has increased over time, from 48 percent in 1990-91 to 61 percent in 2012-13.
• The use of ORS among children with diarrhea is not popular; only 38 percent of children who had diarrhea in the two weeks preceding the survey received ORS.
This year’s World Immunization Week campaign seeks to address the knowledge gap which can prevent people from getting vaccinated. Specific goals are for people around the world to:
know what vaccines are available to protect against disease; be motivated to check the vaccination status of themselves and their families; andget the vaccines they need from their local health practitioner.

Increasing public understanding of the benefits of vaccination is a key to make the routine immunization 100% in Pakistan.
 
If we want a healthy, happy and prosperous Pakistan then we all have to contribute to raise awareness about the importance of Immunization, inform the public that polio is not only immunization there is complete package of routine immunization against 9 deadly diseases which are preventable and can reduce the child mortality.