UNICEF confirmed it provided five million doses of vaccines to the Ministry of Health, and also supported the Ministry in caring for more than 150,000 people who were not previously vaccinated.
The representative of the UNICEF in Iraq, Shima San Gupta, said, during the announcement of the activities of the World Immunization Week, which started today, Tuesday, in the capital, Baghdad, “We are facing major diseases due to lack of immunization between the years 21-22, when we registered 14 million individuals, who were affected, and therefore the importance of immunization is clear and important strategy to save people’s lives.”
She added, “In Iraq, we are proud to say that bacteria and their diseases have been reduced, and have achieved wide coverage due to the vaccination campaigns that have taken place. Therefore, we appreciate the efforts of the Ministry of Health for the achieved achievement,” indicating that “UNICEF and World Health Organization are still continuing to be active partners with the Ministry of Health.”
The UN official affirmed, “UNICEF supports the ministry in national vaccination campaigns by providing the vaccine, assisting the government, enabling advice and counseling on vaccines, and supporting community behaviors in the targeted areas to enhance the vaccination process.”
She explained, “UNICEF supports the Ministry of Health also in the process of promoting vaccination and immunization campaigns, in order to make these campaigns accessible, and in addition to this coverage, we must mention the importance of integrated work in immunization services,” stressing that “the vaccine has proven to be an important and significant strategy to protect life, and the vaccine helps children to live comfortably and overcome diseases, and by vaccinating children, we help the community to be healthy and large to stop the process of spreading diseases.
She continued, “The vaccines provided to the returnees and every person who is vaccinated have wide importance among people, and we thank our partners in Iraq for their continuous support in their vaccination campaigns and in building stability for a stable health system and the response to health services. I invite you to continue to raise awareness of the extreme importance of vaccinating children, protecting them and their safety from diseases. If you are vaccinated, it will protect Iraq for a long time, and UNICEF also remains committed to supporting the Ministry of Health in national vaccination campaigns, so that there is no unvaccinated child.”
Source: National Iraqi News Agency