Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy said the vaccination programmes in border regions need to be strengthened since these areas are more vulnerable; overall, he said, greater investment should be made in vaccination research worldwide.
The minister made these disclosures at the launch of Vaccination Week of the Americas 2008 at Lethem, Region Nine, on Monday, a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release said. Ramsammy told the gathering, which also saw attendance from Brazil and Venezuela representatives, that there are still many children to be vaccinated in the Americas and public health workers must continue until every child is inoculated. “Access, availability and coverage for vaccines in our immunisation programmes must not be one of the factors that contribute to the gap between rich and poor countries, between the north and the south. Vaccines must be seen as a global good,” Ramsammy said.
The minister said Guyana must be prepared to deal with vaccine preventive diseases such as yellow fever which is currently threatening the Americas. He said it is paramount that Guyana works with her neighbours to eliminate threats in the Americas particularly in the light of the yellow fever threat and the current shortage of yellow fever vaccines.
According to GINA, the minister highlighted the new vaccines that had been introduced for children in Guyana over the year, among them, the pnemococcus vaccine. He also pointed to the 2004 Rotavirus Surveillance Pro-gramme that was introduced at the Georgetown Public Hospital to analyse the magnitude of the disease among children under five years old.
Meanwhile, Minister within the Ministry of Health Dr Bheri Ramsaran in his address pointed out that Guyana has done well in its immunisation programme, especially in Region Nine where it has attained 90 per cent coverage. However, he said, there still remains some “pockets” that need attention.
In 2006, Guyana was awarded the prestigious Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/ WHO) Henry C Award for its successful Expanded Programme on Immunisation. It achieved outstanding vaccination coverage in children and maintained good surveillance in vaccine preventable diseases.
Meanwhile GINA also reported that PAHO Country Representative Dr Kathleen Israel said since Vaccination Week has been observed, it has received support from PAHO. She said too the programme in the Americas has also been adopted by some European countries. “The vision of PAHO/WHO is to have a week devoted to increasing awareness and coverage of immunisation,” she added. Israel also encouraged national health authorities, parents, teachers, health care providers and community leaders among others to obtain as much information as possible about vaccination and to ensure that their children are fully immunised.
