The announcement clearly stated that the number of children dying from vaccine-preventable causes in Vietnam has been reduced significantly since 1981 when the Southeast Asian country introduced the national immunization program – the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) – with the aim to ensure that every child, everywhere in Vietnam can receive the lifesaving protection of routine immunizations.
Through the use of vaccines, Vietnam has eradicated smallpox, wild poliovirus, and neonatal tetanus and significantly reduced the number of people infected with diseases such as measles, diphtheria, pertussis and Japanese encephalitis.
WHO Representative in Vietnam Dr Angela Pratt said that Vietnam’s remarkable results in eliminating some diseases and dramatically reducing rates of vaccine-preventable diseases have been spearheaded by the Government and supported by strong cooperation from healthcare workers in even the remotest communes, local partners, community-based organizations, local leaders and communities, international development partners, donors and scientists over many years. But some of these gains are currently at risk. Therefore, urgent actions should be taken immediately to close existing immunity gaps and ensure that life-saving vaccines reach every child, in every corner of the country, today and into the future.
World Immunization Week is 24-30 April 2024.
