I chose to talk about the vaccination issue in the country of Afghanistan. This country caught my interest because of the statistical chart (Table 5.1) in the text on p. 149. All of the countries listed on the chart showed improvements in the death rate for children under the age of five since 1990, except for Afghanistan (Berger, 2012). Although this is because of the war, I was curious about the fact of why so many deaths occur because of vaccinations. Vaccinations are usually one of the things that people can get for free or fairly cheap.
Through further research, I found that in the year of 2012, about 2,600 children in Afghanistan were diagnosed with measles (Madhok, 2013). This virus could have been fought if they were vaccinated (Madhok, 2013). Several obstacles make it difficult for children to get vaccinated such as; a health infrastructure that is fragile, difficult geographical terrain, and the constant conflict (Madhok, 2013). Another reason for this problem is the lack of understanding the importance and safety of getting immunized.
Each day in Afghanistan, children are at risk for diseases that are preventable such as tuberculosis, tetanus, diphtheria, polio, measles, hepatitis B, hemophilus influenza type B and pertussis (whooping cough). Most of these children are under one years old (Madhok, 2013)
The Unicef organization along with the ministry of Public Health and other partners have made strong efforts to ensure that routine vaccinations are provided. These efforts have helped tremendously in improving vaccination programs against diseases that are preventable, including polio (Madhok, 2013). Since implementing these programs, the number children who contracted measles went from 1,117 cases that were confirmed in 2012 to 123 in 2013, the drop is pretty significant (Madhok, 2013).
References:
Berger, K. S. (2012). The developing person through childhood (6th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.
Madhok, R. (2013). In Afghanistan, reaching the hardest to reach with vaccines. Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org.
Hi, Cheryl.
ReplyDeleteImmunizations are a very important topic to be aware of. Even though some still worry about their safety, the statistics that you have shared show just how much they are capable of preventing. Just recently we have had a small outbreak of whooping cough in our area. A letter was sent home by the schools to warn us of the signs and symptoms. When reported in the local papers, the outbreak was attributed to an increase in the number of children who are not immunized because of parents being worried about the safety of such immunizations. Personally, I have chosen to immunize my children because I consider it to be a minimal risk weighed against a very valuable benefit. I was wondering about your take on the situation. How would you respond to a parent who expressed their concerns about the safety of immunizing their children?