World Immunization Week takes place annually during the last week of April. This year, the week runs from April 24th through April 30th. The purpose of the week is to remind families and communities about the effectiveness of vaccines and to encourage people to take action to ensure that more individuals are immunized against deadly and debilitating diseases.
It is predicted that immunizations avert between 2 and 3 million deaths each year. This makes immunizations one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions ever. Despite their success, 1 in 5 children are still missing their vaccinations.
This year, the World Immunization Week‘s theme is “Are you up-to-date?” The campaign includes specific goals to:
• know what vaccines are available to protect against disease;
• be motivated to check the vaccination status of themselves and their families; and
• get the vaccines they need from their local health practitioner.