MINISTER of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, yesterday called for the support of other countries to join Guyana’s call for increased funding for vaccination research.

Speaking at the launching of the ‘Vaccination week of the Americas’ in Lethem, and which was attended by representatives of neighbouring Venezuela and Brazil, Dr Ramsammy urged that, “We must raise our voices so that the world invests more money in vaccine research.”

Guyana has an excellent track record in immunisation and was awarded the prestigious Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), Henry C award for its successful Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) in 2006.

This award was granted for the country’s outstanding vaccination coverage in children and for maintaining good surveillance in vaccine preventable diseases.

The EPI programme has been in existence since 1995 and has made significant advancement with regard to the eradiation of polio, yellow fever and measles. It had progressed to such an extent that Guyana was granted polio free status in 1994 by PAHO/WHO.

The programme also became a beneficiary of the Global Alliance on Vaccine and Immunisation (GAVI) which introduced a special vaccine for hepatitis B, haemophilus influenza, diphtheria, pertussis, whooping cough and tetanus.

In his vaccination week message Dr. Ramsammy said over the last year new vaccines have been introduced for children. The pnemococcus vaccine for some children has been introduced, and there is advanced preparation for the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine. In 2004 Guyana initiated the Rotavirus Surveillance at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) to analyse the magnitude of the disease among children under five years-old.

The Health Minister alluded to the fact that there are constraints in vaccination production. He mentioned that there is a current shortage of yellow-fever vaccines which is a problem since there have been a number of yellow-fever outbreaks in the Americas.

Dr. Ramsammy stressed that vaccination is vital for all children, and wealth should not determine if it is administered.

“Access, availability and coverage for vaccines in our immunisation programme must not be one of the factors that contribute to the gap between rich and poor countries, between the north and the south and between countries. Vaccines must be seen as a global good,” he said.

He noted that Guyana has invested significant sums of money to improve this inequity, but greater efforts are needed to strengthen health systems so that an equitable status is achieved.

PAHO/WHO Country Representative, Dr. Kathleen Israel, assured that since vaccination week has been observed it has received the support of PAHO and every PAHO member country in the region of the Americas and has since been adopted by some European countries as well. “The vision of PAHO/WHO is to have a week devoted to increasing awareness and coverage of immunisation,” she said.

Since its launch six years ago, this initiative has delivered vaccines to more than 195 million people in 45 countries and territories. This year a record 62 million children, adults and elderly people are expected to receive free vaccines against leading infectious diseases as part of the sixth annual Vaccination Week in the Americas .

Dr. Israel said this effort is expected to prevent thousands of deaths and illnesses from diseases such as measles, rubella, polio, tetanus, diphtheria, yellow fever, influenza, rotavirus, hepatitis B, and whooping cough.

Minister Ramsammy said though Government has a major role to play, parents and caregivers of children have their part to play also. Dr. Israel encouraged “all concerned: national health authorities, parents, teachers, family members, health care providers, community leaders and individuals in general to use the opportunity to gain as much information as possible about the importance of vaccination and to do whatever lies in their power to ensure that all children are fully immunised.”

Vaccination Week of the Americas is being observed under the theme

“Vaccination - An Act of Love: love them, protect them, immunise them.”