* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Immunisation not only is it saving lives but it also reduces strain on health services, families and communities
To many people in the UK, Tetanus is simply a precautionary jab after a nasty cut. But in countries like Uganda, South Sudan and Somalia it’s a public health issue that kills hundreds of thousands of people globally every year.
As we mark World Immunisation Week, it’s disappointing that tetanus still kills almost over a quarter of a million people each year – predominantly babies and their mothers. What makes these numbers particularly bewildering is the fact that vaccinations have been one of the biggest success stories of modern medicine. Neonatal tetanus deaths can be avoided by a simple and effective vaccine, which costs less than £1.
In the world’s poorest countries tetanus is an ‘invisible killer’. The life-threatening infection is caused by the “Clostridium Tetani” bacteria found in soil or manure. ‘Lockjaw’, or ‘grinning death’ as it’s known, poisons the body causing spasms that can be fatal.
Babies and mothers are particularly prone to tetanus. Around the world, over 200,000 new-borns and over 30,000 new mums die annually from the preventable bacterial infection.
The more positive side of this scenario is that two thirds of countries globally have eliminated neonatal tetanus due to strong immunisation campaigns.
It’s another nod to the effectiveness of immunisation campaigns. According to the UN, vaccines have been massively successful in tackling infectious diseases by making people immune or resistant and prevented at least 10 million deaths in the past half a decade. The lives of millions of other people were protected from the suffering and disability associated with diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea, whooping cough, measles, and polio.
At World Vision, we have incorporated immunisation for pregnant women as standard in our health programs (specifically Global 7-11). We have learnt from our work in 8 countries (Cambodia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Democratic Republic of Congo), that the proportion of children who completed their third dose of childhood immunisation (including Tetanus) rose from 49 to 85% over 3-5 years. Programs like these show how UK aid is saving lives in the poorest places.
In all these scenarios, World Vision bolsters national health systems by training community health workers to register pregnant women into maternal health programs. This provides support to mothers throughout their pregnancy until their child reaches the age of 2. Our staff and volunteers also remind women about the need for Tetanus vaccination early in their pregnancy as part of a supportive counseling approach to enable lifestyle choices that reduce complications and ensure a healthy pregnancy and birth. Our approach has so far reached reaching over 408,000 children and their mothers, strengthening health systems in the poorest parts of the world.
The Global Vaccine Action Plan 2010-2020 calls for vaccines to be equitably accessible to all people everywhere. Together the global community has made great progress. We have achieved over a 50 per cent drop in child deaths globally between 1990 and 2015. However more effort is needed by governments and charities for mothers and children everywhere to benefit from life-changing vaccines.
Immunisation is not only key to the development of vulnerable communities around the world. It is a Sustainable Development Goal priority because of its key role in universal healthcare and the reduction of persistent rates of deaths amongst mothers and newborns. Not only is it saving lives but it also reduces strain on health services, families and communities that is inherent with disease and death.
At World Vision, we also believe successful immunisation programs enable national priorities, like education and economic development, to take hold.
Desiree Stewart is World Vision UK's Senior Health Advisor
