GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – With Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA) 2017 having just concluded at the end of April, the Collective Prevention Services (CPS) recently received 250 re-useable water bottles from Social & Health Insurances (SZV) for the first of two planned Vaccination Open House events, the first one set for Saturday.
The second Open House is scheduled for Saturday, June 10. Saturday’s Open House will be held at the Vineyard Office Park in Philipsburg from 9.00am to 4.00pm for children between 0-17 years old.
Parents and guardians are asked to bring their child’s vaccination record/book to the Open House. There will also be presentations from 10.00am to 1.30pm on Oral Health, Puberty and Reproductive Health.
Vaccines help your immune system fight more than 20 dangerous diseases. From the time we’re born, vaccines offer protection to help individuals stay healthy throughout their entire lives.
This is the 15th year that VWA has been organized. It was held under the theme: #GetVax to celebrate a healthy tomorrow!
CPS, a department of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, is holding its Open House under the banner of the VWA 2017.
The Region of the Americas has been a global leader in the elimination of vaccine-preventable diseases for many years. In 1971, the Americas became the first region in the world to eliminate smallpox; in 1994, the region was declared free of polio; in 2015, the Americas put an end to rubella and congenital rubella syndrome, and in 2016, the countries eliminated measles transmission.
These achievements, together with high national immunization coverages, and the advances towards the elimination of neonatal tetanus and the control of diphtheria and pertussis, have positioned the Americas as a global leader in immunization.
From the time VWA was started in 2003, more than 640 million people in the Region of the Americas have been vaccinated under the umbrella of VWA activities, against many dangerous diseases – including polio, measles, rubella, rotavirus, human papilloma virus (HPV), influenza, and yellow fever.
Evidence continues to show that vaccination is one of the safest, most cost-effective ways to prevent diseases and death. The polio vaccine has prevented 15 million cases of paralysis worldwide, and it is estimated that its eradication will result in economic savings of some $40-50 billion dollars.
Those who need additional information about the Open House can call CPS at 542-2078 or 542-3003.
