Health authorities raise awareness about vaccine-preventable diseases

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) are raising awareness among the public about the importance of updating vaccines for diseases that can be vaccinated against. The initiative highlights World Immunisation Week, the theme for which this year is ‘#VaccineWorks’, according to a press statement.Dr Abdullatif al-Khal, deputy chief medical officer at HMC, said immunisation is the process whereby a person is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease, typically by the administration of a vaccine. “Vaccines stimulate the body’s own immune system to protect the person against subsequent infection or disease,” said Dr al-Khal.“Immunisation prevents illness, disability and death from vaccine-preventable diseases, including cervical cancer, diphtheria, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, pertussis (whooping cough), pneumonia, polio, rotavirus, diarrhoea, rubella and tetanus,” he said, adding that all babies born in Qatar receive scheduled immunisation against diseases to ensure that they are adequately protected.According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 19.4mn unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children in the world. Each year, more than 1.4mn children die from diseases that could be prevented with readily available vaccines. Dr Hamad Eid al-Romaihi, Health Protection and Communicable Diseases manager at the MoPH, said: “We are urging those who are vulnerable to infectious diseases, such as children, pregnant women and the elderly, and those with chronic illnesses to learn about vaccine-preventable diseases and make sure their vaccinations are updated according to WHO recommendations.”Dr Samya al-Abdulla, executive director of the PHCC’s Operation Department, noted: “The PHCC aims to deliver the best healthcare to the population. Part of this is ensuring disease prevention by providing scheduled vaccinations for all babies born in Qatar and ensuring access (to vaccines) for those who are not born here. Most vaccines are available free of charge across all of our primary health centres and can be accessed from 7am to 1pm and from 4pm to 11pm, Sunday to Thursday.” World Immunisation Week – recognised during the last week of April each year– aims to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease. Immunisation saves millions of lives and is widely recognised as one of the world’s most successful and cost-effective health interventions, according to WHO.2017 marks the halfway point in the Global Vaccine Action Plan, endorsed by 194 member states of the World Health Assembly in May 2012. The initiative aims to prevent millions of deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases by 2020 through universal access to immunisation.