Blog Assignment for Week 2

I researched the immunization regulations in the Eastern Mediterranean Region which includes countries such as Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Egypt among others.  I am interested in this topic because I have seen discussions in various publications and heard some parents’ opinions about whether vaccinations are really necessary and may even be potentially dangerous, such as being responsible for autism.  Even though all children need to be vaccinated before entering school in the United States, some children can be exposed to diseases that have a vaccination available.  If the children contract a disease, the possibility of spreading it to the public could have been prevented.   I have a few children in my class from this region and it is interesting to me what protocols are in place in their home country and what requirements are in place should their families move back and the children begin attending school.

I found an interesting article from the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean Region published in 2011.  The report assessed the vaccinations available in this region and compared it to the deaths of children five years of age and younger.  Statistics for 2008 showed that 1.239 million children died and more than 20% of these deaths were from diseases that have a vaccination.  The Hib virus, rotovirus and streptococcus pneumonial virus which causes pneumonia were primarily responsible for the children dying.  Also in 2008, an estimated 7000 deaths were attributed to measles.  That averages out to 20 deaths per day. The WHO states that 95% of measles deaths happen in poverty stricken countries where the children are more likely to be malnourished. 

To improve these statistics, the WHO recommended in 2010 the development of a public health initiative in this area for one week every April.  The goal is to take on the challenge of reaching every child in every district in an attempt to eradicate diseases by vaccinating all children.  Unfortunately, 1.5 million children failed to get the third dose of DPT in 2010.  The target by 2015 is to reduce the preventable disease death rate by 60-70% in children under five years of age.  Health officials recognize many obstacles to meeting this goal.  Many countries in this region do not offer the Hib vaccine so 31% of infants in this region do not have access to it.  Other countries do not offer rotovirus or the pneumonia vaccines so 88% of infants in this area will not be covered.  Reasons some countries do not offer these vaccines are the high cost, poor government decision-making, poor allocation of resources and minimizing the affect of the diseases.  The WHO has made recommendations to the leaders in this region on ways to improve the percentage of children who receive vaccinations and improve the mortality statistics. 

It is my desire to share this information as well as information about vaccination policies in other countries with my future education students.  It’s important to see how other countries approach various issues, not only to compare and contrast to the United States, but to foster a greater appreciation of what America has to offer.

Reference

World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.  (2011).  Scaling up the expanded programme on immunization to meet global and regional targets.  Retrieved from  http://applications.emro.who.int/docs/RC_technical_papers_2011_4_14220.pdf