“For you, for me, for everyone, get vaccinated”

Belize City, 20 April 2012 – Promoted by PAHO/WHO, in collaboration with the Ministries of Health, including Belize, Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA) has been celebrated in April since 2003 to raise awareness on how immunization saves lives and to keep the topic on the political agenda. This year the VWA marks two milestone events in public health: the 10th anniversary of Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA) and the first ever World Immunization Week (WIW). With the theme “for you, for me, for everyone, get vaccinated” Belize, jointly with PAHO, is celebrating this week by administering multiple antigens in order to complete childhood vaccination schedules, placing emphasis on high-risk groups, defaulters and populations living in areas with low coverage. In 2004 Belize participated for the first time giving males between the ages of 5 and 35 years the Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. A coverage of 96.9% was achieved with this initiative.