A program of the International Vaccine Access Center by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Maternal immunization is a promising strategy for protecting mothers, the developing fetus, and young infants during a particularly vulnerable time in their lives – especially in low- and middle-income countries where morbidity and mortality among women and their children is high. During pregnancy, vaccines allow antibodies from the mother to cross into the placenta, protecting moms and their babies from life-threatening illnesses.
The story of immunization is often headlined with the remarkable health benefits—millions of lives saved, and illnesses and hospitalizations prevented. But the true impact of vaccination is even more far-reaching, touching many areas of people’s lives from supporting early childhood growth and development to improving educational outcomes and productivity, promoting economic stability, and helping to address equity gaps: It’s seemingly impossible to undersell the importance of vaccination.
This World Immunization Week, the VoICE editors highlight some of the broader benefits of immunization—not only helping to prevent illness and save lives, but also promoting healthy development, productivity, economic stability, and equity for all.
World Immunization Week 2020 (April 24-30) is an opportunity for immunization advocates across the world to promote the value of vaccines for protecting people of all ages against preventable diseases. Our VoICE social media toolkit provides messaging on the vital role that vaccines play in global health. Beyond saving millions of lives every year #VaccinesWork For All by strengthening our health care systems, protecting global health security, shrinking equity gaps, and more.
Join us in promoting the message that #VaccinesWork For All by sharing the evidence on the broad benefits of immunization!
Pneumonia is responsible for more than 800,000 under-5 deaths each year—claiming a child’s life every 39 seconds. Vaccines against pneumococcus, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), pertussis, measles, and influenza are important to help protect children from disease and prevent the lasting health, equity, and socioeconomic effects of pneumonia. This week, country leaders, scientific experts, program and policy officials, and advocates from around the world will meet in Barcelona to elevate pneumonia on national and global health agendas and raise the call for action against this common, serious, preventable cause of child illness and death.
A healthy child is more likely to attend school, performs better in school and attends school for longer than a child who is often ill or has suffered permanent disabilities as a result of illness. In this Feature, VoICE explores how vaccine-preventable infections affect cognitive development and schooling, and highlights evidence of the effect vaccination can have in protecting a child’s neurologic development, educational prospects and ultimately, future productivity.
From Abuja to Atlanta, recent infectious disease outbreaks have all too commonly captured the regular news headlines. In this Featured Issue on vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks, the VoICE team goes past the headline, down to the fine print. We bring you an evidence-backed overview of vaccine-preventable infectious disease outbreaks worldwide, with a special focus on the circumstances that increase the likelihood of an outbreak, the less-obvious health and economic consequences, and a “top five” list for outbreak prevention and preparedness.
Social Media Toolkit Using evidence for advocacy: Visit the 2019 World Immunization Week social media toolkit! Explore our messages, graphics, and gifs illustrating how #VaccinesWork to keep us #ProtectedTogether. Topics include: Download the IVAC VoICE WIW Social Media toolkit, with instructions to download animations. Access all of the materials in this folder. #ProtectedTogether: Herd immunity Tweet … Continued
Conflict and forced migration – resulting in disruption of communities and health systems – amplify the risk factors for infectious disease and increase the urgency of preventive measures such as immunization. While disease outbreaks of measles, cholera, meningitis and even polio in refugee camps may be the most widely covered issues related to immunization in conflict-affected areas and populations, this VoICE Featured Issue explores some of the less-visible, but equally critical aspects. Immunizations play an important role in these settings, considering the threat of malnutrition and antimicrobial resistance, economic pressures, and the urgent need for responsive policies.
December 12th is worldwide Universal Health Coverage (UHC) day! Although exceedingly complex in its implementation, the concept behind UHC is simple: All people should benefit from quality health services, medicines and vaccinations, and no one should be put in financial peril to do so. In recognition of UHC Day 2018, the VoICE team brings you a brief look at the interplay between coverage of immunization and other basic health interventions, and the important role of immunization in protecting against financial risk – both within the context of the Sustainable Development Goal Target for UHC.
Despite tremendous global progress, diarrhea remains the second leading infectious cause of under-5 deaths, taking a child’s life almost every minute. Although diarrhea can seem like a common, simple childhood ailment in many places, a single episode of diarrhea can be serious, even deadly, and have severe economic implications for families and communities. Advocates play a critical role in ensuring evidence-based diarrhea prevention and control programs and policies are a top priority globally and in the countries where this disease is most prolific.