The Institute for Public Health of Montenegro and UNICEF, on the occasion of World Immunization Week, which is celebrated every year from April 24 to 30, called on parents to ensure that their children receive routine vaccines while respecting the measures introduced due to the Kovid-19 epidemic, such as maintaining physical distance, frequent hand washing and taking care of hygiene.
"Protection against vaccine-preventable diseases is the basic right of every child, and it is our duty to enable every boy and girl in Montenegro to realize that right. UNICEF calls for vaccination of all children in accordance with the prescribed calendar in order to avoid new crises with infectious diseases that can be prevented thanks to vaccines", says the head of the UNICEF representative office in Montenegro, Osama Kogali.
Immunization, as stated in the joint statement of the Institute and UNICEF, represents one of the most effective public health interventions: since 2000 alone, immunization against measles has saved the lives of around 23,2 million children. It is added that thanks to vaccines, last year, maternal and neonatal tetanus, which is extremely fatal for newborns, was not eradicated in only 12 countries of the world, and wild poliovirus was recorded in only two countries.
The global pandemic of Kovid-19 is, the press release points out, a reminder of how quickly an epidemic can occur when there is no vaccine that protects people and communities, and the urgent need for a vaccine against Kovid-19 points to the crucial role of immunization in protecting lives and the economy. . As scientists around the world work to develop a vaccine against the new coronavirus and health systems face enormous pressure to respond to Covid-19, national routine immunization programs are more important than ever, say the Institute and UNICEF.
"The COVID-19 epidemic reveals what the world looks like when we don't have a vaccine against an infectious disease. There is still no vaccine for COVID-19, but we have effective and safe vaccines for other serious and highly contagious diseases, such as measles. While we are taking appropriate measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we must make additional efforts to ensure that all children are vaccinated according to the prescribed vaccination calendar," says epidemiologist and assistant director of the Institute for Public Health, Dr. Senad Begić.
Governments around the world must use every possible opportunity to protect their citizens from the many diseases for which vaccines are already available, because whenever routine vaccination is missed, the risk of disease epidemics increases, warn the Institute and UNICEF.
For accurate information on this topic, all citizens are recommended to use reliable sources of information such as the website and social networks of the Institute for Public Health, the Ministry of Health, the Clinical Center of Montenegro, local health centers, the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
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