THE Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), has launched Vaccination Week in the Americas.Under the theme “Go for the Gold,” there is a list of activities slated for all 10 administrative regions.

Vaccination Week in the Americas, one of the largest multi-national events, is observed throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, and accounts for the vaccination of over 400 million people over the last 12 years, a press statement from the Ministry of Public Health has said.

All primary healthcare staff involved in the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) will participate in catch-up campaigns for their defaulters and hard-to-reach populations, including remote hinterland communities, the ministry said.

Programmes include vaccination of the general adult population and ‘in school’ vaccination campaigns countrywide, schools in art, poetry and essay competitions, religious activities and walks.

The ministry said the EPI is one of the most successful of public health programmes, with vaccination coverage of over 90 per cent of all antigens given to the population under five years old in Guyana.

Under the EPI, Government hopes to provide immunisation for all target populations, in order to eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases. The programme administers vaccines for 17 antigens, including whooping cough, measles, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, yellow fever, diphtheria, tetanus, mumps, rubella, haemophilus influenza type B, hepatitis B, pneumococcal, meningococcal, human papilloma virus, varicella, rota virus and pertussis.

PAHO/WHO, in a statement, said the commemoration, which ends April 30, is an extraordinary effort by the countries and territories of the Americas to advance equity and access to vaccination.

PAHO/WHO said the week of activities will strengthen the national immunisation programmes by reaching out to populations with little access to regular health services, including rural and border areas and indigenous communities.