UNICEF, WHO, GAVI ALLIANCE, WORLD BANK, GOVERNMENTS & PRIVATE SECTOR: GLOBAL IMMUNIZATION MEETINGS IN N.Y. THIS WEEK:  20/02/2009 (MaximsNews Network)

       UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 20 February 2009 -- United Nations agencies and their partners in the global fight against vaccine-preventable diseases: UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the GAVI Alliance along with the World Bank, developing and industrialized countries’ governments and the private sector -- gathered this week for a three-day conference in New York City for the fourth annual Global Immunization Meeting that focused on the progress and future challenges of global immunization.

"This meeting is an invaluable opportunity to take stock of where we are globally and what is needed to continue critical immunization efforts," said the Chief of Health for UNICEF, Peter Salama. 

"An additional 2 million lives could be saved every year by expanding existing immunization coverage and adding available new vaccines for diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhea, two of the leading causes of death for children under five years of age," continued Mr. Salama.

See also: UNICEF's SAAD HOURY: REMARKS TO WHO, GAVI ALLIANCE AT 4TH GLOBAL IMMUNIZATION MEETINGS IN NEW YORK : 20/02/2009 (MaximsNews Network)

The event analyzed the progress and implementation of the Global Immunization Vision and Strategy (GIVS), developed jointly by UNICEF, WHO and the GAVI Alliance that aims to increase the coverage of global immunization for the major vaccine-preventable diseases in all countries to at least 90 percent by the year 2010. 

Speakers provided technical updates on programme issues and plans on how best to reach the unreached.

Efforts to immunize over 80 per cent of the world's children are among the most successful and cost-effective public health interventions ever undertaken.

These progammes have eradicated smallpox and reduced the incidence of polio by 99 per cent since the year 1988. They have also dramatically reduced illness and death from such diseases as diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus. 

Last year the international partners declared that worldwide mortality from measles had declined by nearly 75 percent since 2000.

It is estimated that immunization efforts now prevent some two million child deaths each year. 

The U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aim to reduce the world's child mortality by two-thirds for the year 2015 and the meetings this week focused on how to achieve this key element of MDG4.

Even though immunization is regarded as one of the most successful, widely implemented and promising interventions for child survival, sustaining the successes may not be easy. 

Increased funding is critical to build and sustain these achievements and this may prove difficult for governments and donors with the current worldwide economic downturn.

UNICEF, the United Nations Childrens Fund, works in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. 

It is the world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries and supports child health and nutrition, safe water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

The GAVI Alliance is a Geneva-based public-private partnership aimed at improving health in the world’s poorest countries. The Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry in both industrialised and developing countries, research and technical agencies, NGOs, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private philanthropists.

GAVI support consists of providing life-saving vaccines and strengthening health systems. Since 2000, 213 million children have been vaccinated and 3.4 million premature deaths averted thanks to GAVI-funded programmes.

For further information, please contact:
Christian Moen, UNICEF New York, +1-212-326-7516, cmoen@unicef.org
Brian Hansford, UNICEF New York, +1-212-326-7269, bhansford@unicef.org

Labels: United Nations, MaximsNews Network, U.N., PETER SALAMA, Global Health, MaximsNewsGlobalHealth, UNICEF, WHO, GAVI Alliance, DHS, CDC, Immunization-Basics, PATH , Saad Houry, MDGs Millennium Development Goals, 2009 State of the World’s Children Report, measles, Hib, tetanus pertussis, Immunization, IFFIm AMC, pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines, GIVS, CIDA (Canada), Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies,

 

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