PHILIPSBURG – Acting Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, Hon. Rita Bourne-Gumbs says vaccinations save lives. The 13th Annual Vaccination Week in the Americas kicked off in Duran, Ecuador, on April 25. At that particular activity more than 2,000 children, adolescents, and adults took part.
Recently representatives from the Department of Collective Prevention Services (CPS) within the Ministry of Public Health presented the Acting Minister of Public Health Hon. Rita Bourne-Gumbs with posters as a symbolic gesture of country Sint Maarten’s support for this hemispheric event.
“Vaccinations benefit families. It is very important to get children vaccinated so they can grow up healthy and strong. An estimated 2.5 million deaths are prevented annually due to a child having been vaccinated. Parents and guardians should always check their child’s vaccination status to make sure they are up to date. For more information they can contact Youth Health Care,” Acting Minister of Public Health Hon. Rita Bourne-Gumbs said on Friday.
Vaccination Week in the Americas runs until the end of the day, Saturday, May 2. Since 2003, this event has reached more than 519 million people throughout the Americas. This year’s campaign is targeting more than 60 million girls and boys and men and women in 45 countries and territories with vaccines against measles, rubella, polio, pneumonia and other diseases.
Vaccination is a central component of universal access to health and universal health coverage, to the extent it is accessible to all those who need it.
Vaccination Week in the Americas has evolved into a worldwide health event. More than 180 countries of the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East are joined together as the global community on April 25 also celebrated the fourth World Immunization Week.
Youth Health Care can be reached at 542-3003 or 542-2078.
PHOTO CUTLINE: Acting Minister of Public Health Hon. Rita Bourne-Gumbs (4th from right) being presented with a poster promoting the 13th Annual Vaccination Week in the Americas from CPS staff in the Dr. A.C. Wathey Legislative Hall at the Government Administration Building. DCOMM Photo
