GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – Section Youth Health Care, within the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, will be having their annual Vaccination Open House on Saturday, May 16.
The Vaccination Open House will take place at Youth Health Care by the Ministry of Public Health at the Vineyard Office Park in Philipsburg at W.G. Buncamper Road #33.
The Open House will be held from 10.00am to 4.00pm. Parents and guardians are requested to bring along their child’s vaccination record/book in order to update the child’s vaccination status. The open house is for children from two months to 17-years of age.
The objectives of the open house are to stimulate parents/guardians to have their child(ren) vaccinated; to bring about awareness as it relates to vaccinations and to encourage parents/guardians and the community at large to take responsibility by ensuring updated vaccination records for the children in their care.
Other individuals who should get their vaccination status checked are, health care workers, pregnant women, pre-and exam class students, as well as groups at risks such as waste/garbage handlers, the Police, hotel and restaurant workers, and others to verify and update their vaccination status, particularly on Hepatitis B and Tetanus.
Immunization averts an estimated two-three million deaths every year, protecting children from diphtheria, measles, pertussis (better known as whooping cough), pneumonia, polio, rotavirus diarrhea, rubella, tetanus and others.