Source: UNICEF Aotearoa NZ
Nine Pacific countries have committed to greater protection for children against life threatening diseases by adopting an immunisation program that has been implemented by UNICEF in collaboration with Ministries of Health and funding from Rotary.
The commitment will see vaccines for Pneumococcal Disease, Rotavirus, and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) added to the nations’ National Essential Programs for Immunisation. The adoption of the vaccines will benefit children in Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Nauru, Niue, Tokelau and Kiribati.
UNICEF Pacific’s Representative, Jonathan Veitch says immunisation is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions to date and has safely reduced the scourge of diseases, helping children grow up healthy and happy.
“We thank Rotary and the Pacific Island governments for their critical long-term partnership with UNICEF to protect children and young people from vaccine-preventable diseases. Especially in this region where pneumonia and diarrhoea are among the Pacific’s top childhood killers,” he says.
In the Pacific, pneumonia and diarrhoea are among the top three causes of mortality in children under five years of age, while around one-third of all pneumonia deaths are due to pneumococcal disease. Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrhoea in children aged less than five years. Severe diarrhoea can lead to dehydration, particularly in young children, and if left untreated can be life-threatening.
With a high burden of cervical cancer cases in the Pacific, most of which are attributed to HPV infection, the introduction of HPV vaccine in adolescent girls will contribute to the reduction of preventable deaths.
UNICEF will continue to support routine immunisation programmes in the Pacific Island Countries, including through strengthening effective vaccine management practices, engaging communities to create vaccine demand, and the procurement and delivery of quality and effective vaccines at an affordable cost to the governments.
Since the Rotary ‘Give Every Child a Future’ project’s inception it has supported the countries to strengthen the supply chain, including the cold chain system to ensure that every child has timely access to safe and potent vaccines.
Delivering vaccines to the most remote islands and communities in itself is a task for healthcare workers in the Pacific. They have to climb mountains, cross rivers, ride horseback and use boats to reach every child with vaccines.
Incoming Rotary International Programmes Committee Chair Becky Giblin says that despite the challenges, a forward-thinking and prevention-over-cure approach is vital for better health outcomes among Pacific tamariki.
“Creating awareness and implementing systems that mean we can roll out programmes like this in remote areas is extremely important, especially for the Pacific region where we must work to take the pressure off a very overwhelmed medical system,” she says.
“Rotary and UNICEF both take a long-term approach in their projects and are on the ground doing everything they can to help provide vulnerable children with things that are taken for granted in other places. Children in Australia and New Zealand have had the benefit of free routine immunisation programmes for years and we know how critical preventative care is for infants and children. There is still work to be done so we must continue to raise awareness and educate people about the importance of projects like Give Every Child a Future”.
UNICEF Aotearoa Head of Strategic Partnerships Frances Wells says vaccines are considered to be one of the most cost-effective interventions to increase child survival.
“Together with our partners, UNICEF reaches almost half the world’s children with lifesaving vaccines. At UNICEF Aotearoa we’re extremely grateful for our partnership with Rotary, which ensures thousands of children across the Pacific have the opportunity to grow up healthy and happy”.
To date, fundraisers from Rotary have contributed US$3.9 million, through the project implemented by UNICEF, in cooperation with the nations’ Ministries of Health and supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
UNICEF remains committed to ensuring that all children and adolescents have good health, wellbeing and reach their full potential.
About UNICEF
UNICEF operates in more than 190 countries in some of the world’s toughest places to reach the most disadvantaged children.
UNICEF Aotearoa works to support children here in New Zealand through our advocacy work, and around the world by fundraising to help our global counterparts support children and families in need. This can be through our long-term programmes to deliver education, healthcare, sanitation and support for children in poverty, as well as through the delivery of immediate lifesaving aid in situations of crisis and emergency. We believe child rights are human rights and our mission is to make sure all children not only survive, but thrive. For more information, visit www.unicef.org.nz
UNICEF Pacific works with and for disadvantaged children and adolescents across the Pacific Islands. Our ambition is to get the entire country working together – as one – on behalf of its most vulnerable children. For more information about UNICEF Pacific and its work for children, follow UNICEF Pacific on Twitter and Facebook
About Rotary
Rotary unites a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges and creating lasting change. Rotary connects 1.4 million people of action from more than 46,000 Rotary clubs in almost every country in the world. Their service improves lives both locally and internationally, from helping those in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. For more information, visit Rotary.org.
