IMMUNIZATION PRESS RELEASE

Highlights

Get Connected

PAHO's Communities

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.

*Documents:*

	Researchers Report that Better Screening, Treatment, and Affordable Vaccines Can Prevent Doubling of Cervical Cancer Deaths in Latin America, Caribbean Thirty-three thousand women in Latin America and the Caribbean die each year of preventable cervical cancer, according to a new study. Dramatic new opportunities offered by better screening, treatment and the securing of an affordable vaccine for girls and young women could reduce the current death toll and prevent it from rising. More »

	PAHO, UNICEF Working Together to support LAC Countries Top officials and technical experts from UNICEF visited the Pan American Health Organization today to discuss areas of joint collaboration including water and sanitation, nutrition, social support for mothers and children, work in health emergencies and risk communications focusing on pregnant women, children and adolescents. More »
	Vaccination week in the Americas advances on goals Regional objective: Vaccinate 62 million people With a spirit of integration and Pan-Americanism, health authorities carried out launches and immunization activities in all countries and territories of the Americas this week, working to vaccinate 62 million children, young people and adults throughout the Region, including indigenous populations in border areas. More »
	Vaccination Week in the Americas Set to Immunize 62 Million in the Western Hemisphere A record 62 million children, adults and elderly people are expected to receive free vaccines against leading infectious diseases as part of the sixth annual Vaccination Week in the Americas, which will take place April 19 to 26. More »
	PAHO Partners with Sesame Workshop to Promote Vaccination in the Americas The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is partnering with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street and Plaza Sésamo to encourage parents throughout the Americas to immunize their children during Vaccination Week in the Americas, April 21 to 28. More »
	Countries Gear Up for Vaccination Week in the Americas The countries of the Americas are preparing a huge promotional effort for the fifth year of Vaccination Week in the Americas, which this year aims to immunize some 55 million persons. More »
	“Make Every Girl Count: Improving Cervical Cancer Prevention” A panel discussion, “Towards an Effective HPV Vaccine Introduction,” will be held at the headquarters of the Pan American Health Organization in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, March 8, at 10:00 a.m. More »
	Pneumococcal Vaccines in Development Pipeline May Offer More Options to Save Lives and Prevent Disease in Latin America Some 325 public health experts, leading policy makers and vaccine industry representatives today heard new evidence of the effectiveness of a pneumococcal vaccine used in the United States. Vaccine manufacturers also revealed the status of several new vaccines in the pipeline, including some being developed by manufacturers in middle- and low-income countries. More »
	Armed With New Data, Health Leaders Across the Americas Vow To Fight Devastating Childhood Disease Health and policy leaders meeting today from dozens of countries across the Americas pledged to promote the adoption of a childhood vaccine to prevent a disease that kills two children every hour in Latin America and the Caribbean. More »
	Pneumococcal Disease in Latin America Kills Two Children Every Hour, New Study Finds Global health experts today released the most comprehensive study ever conducted on the impact of pneumococcal disease in South America and the Caribbean, and revealed potential health and economic benefits of a vaccine already routinely given to children in the United States. More »
	PAHO Launches 'Advances in Immunization' Book The Pan American Health Organization issued a new publication, "Recent Advances in Immunization 2nd edition," that "provides the strategies and tactics to help us reach the goals of sustaining our immunization achievements and reaching the people who have not benefited from existing and new vaccines," according to Dr. Jon K. Andrus, PAHO's lead technical advisor on immunization and one of the book's two editors. More »
	Press Conference Set December 4 on New Book on Advances in Immunization The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is holding a press conference on Monday, December 4th at 9:30 at the Zenger Room of the National Press Club, to present a new book, "Recent Advances in Immunization," which discusses the introduction of new or underutilized life-saving vaccines targeting diseases caused by pneumococcus, rotavirus, human papilloma virus, and influenza. More »
	New PAHO Book on Advances in Immunization is Launched at a Critical Moment for Countries in the Americas The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has just announced the launching of "Recent Advances in Immunization", the latest book published by the Organization. More »
	Health Ministers Approve Rubella Elimination, Increased Vaccination Coverage Health ministers from the Americas at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Directing Council approved a new regional strategy to sustain immunization programs in the Americas, calling on countries to achieve vaccination coverage of more than 95 percent in all districts and to meet the target of eliminating rubella and congenital rubella syndrome by 2010. More »
	Experts Urged to Weigh Costs and Benefits of New Vaccines for Latin America and the Caribbean The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) this week urged immunization advocates to demonstrate the economic feasibility of using newer, more expensive vaccine technologies to reduce deaths and illness in Latin America and the Caribbean. More »
	Soccer Star Ronaldinho to be honored as PAHO/ WHO Champion of Health in New York City Aug. 11 Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho Gaucho will be honored by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) as a Champion of Health, in recognition for his humanitarian contributions and support of PAHO's Vaccination Week in the Americas and Youth Violence Awareness campaigns. More »
	Vaccine Experts Seek Advances in New and Under-Utilized Vaccines Vaccine experts from throughout the Americas opened an international meeting today to explore the issues of maintaining the progress already achieved in immunization and advancing the introduction of new and under-utilized vaccines to reduce the burden of disease and death. More »
	International Press Briefing on Vaccination Week in the Americas National Infant Immunization Week is part of a hemisphere-wide effort called Vaccination Week in the Americas, which last year succeeded in vaccinating more than 38 million children and adults in 35 countries in the Americas. This briefing will update the international efforts being made to bring the benefits of vaccination to people throughout the hemisphere. More »
	Countries Gear up for Vaccination Week in the Americas April 22-29 Countries all over the Americas are gearing for the start of Vaccination Week in the Americas tomorrow, aiming to vaccinate millions of children, young women, and seniors from Canada to the tip of South America. For the fourth consecutive year, health ministries and state and local health officials are focusing on preventing disease by vaccinating more than 38 million children and adults in 35 countries in the Americas. More »
	New Vaccines Present Financing Challenges, PAHO Experts Say "Immunization is the key to reducing child mortality and we must ensure that new vaccines are accessible to all people in an equitable manner," according to Dr. Carissa Etienne, assistant director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). More »
	PAHO Plans Response to New HPV Vaccine The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has launched a process to respond to the introduction – sometime in mid-2006 – of a vaccine to immunize against a virus associated with cervical cancer. More »
	Cutting-edge Science on New Vaccines: Global Forum to Cover Latest Developments, Key Challenges The Sixth Annual Global Vaccine Research Forum will be held 12-15 June 2005 in Hotel Pestana Bahia, Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. About 200 top vaccine researchers, scientists and public health experts from around the world will participate. The Forum is co-hosted by the World Health Organization Initiative for Vaccine Research and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. More »
	World Health Assembly Adopts Global Immunization Strategy The World Health Assembly concluded its 2005 meeting today with governments committing to a new Global Immunization Vision and Strategy to fight vaccine-preventable diseases, which kill more than two million people every year, two-thirds of whom are young children. More »
	Vaccination Week: Thousands of Health Workers in Remote Areas Vaccination Week in the Americas is proceeding as planned, with legions of health workers heading deep into remote areas, border communities and marginal urban areas to reach people who have not received vaccines. More »
	Vaccination Week in the Americas Launched The Pan American Health Organization and officials from the U.S., Canadian and Mexican governments launched Vaccination Week in the Americas, a regional initiative that aims to strengthen vaccination programs and reach more than 44 million children and adults throughout the Americas with immunizations. More »
	Vaccination Week in the Americas Press Conference The Pan American Health Organization, together with the governments of the United States, Mexico and Canada, will hold a press conference Monday, April 25 at 10 a.m. at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. to launch Vaccination Week in the Americas. More »
	Latin American Countries Plan for Flu Pandemic The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is working with its member countries to develop national influenza pandemic preparedness plans, to help them cope should a new and virulent strain of influenza cause a global epidemic. More »
	Vaccination Week in the Americas Set to Start April 23 Health workers in every country in the Western Hemisphere are preparing strategies, purchasing vaccines, and coordinating logistics for the largest immunization drive in the Americas, targeting millions of children for Vaccination Week in the Americas, starting April 23. More »
	PAHO Vaccine Book Receives Award The Pan American Health Organization's publication, Vaccines: Preventing Disease and Protecting Health, has won an award from the Association of American Publishers in the medical science category. More »
	Influenza Preparedness Must Become Public Health Priority, Experts Say Influenza experts at a Pan American Health Organization technical meeting say that national preparedness plans to confront a potential influenza pandemic must become a "public health priority without delay." More »
	Rubella Elimination Advancing, Experts Say A continental plan to eliminate rubella in the Americas is advancing and should reach its target of 2010, experts at a Pan American Health Organization technical meeting said here today. More »
	Vaccine Contributions to Health Highlighted at Expert Meeting Vaccine programs in the Americas have made major contributions to improving health in the Americas and new vaccines could go even further, said Dr. D.A. Henderson, a global expert who chairs a Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) technical group here today. More »
	Vaccination Campaign Kicks Off Along U.S.-Mexico Border The Second Vaccination Week in the Americas kicks off along the U.S.-Mexico border tomorrow, in a drive to immunize children that live in the U.S. counties on the frontier with Mexico. More »
	Health Officials From 16 Countries Ask Sustainable Programs For New, Old Vaccines Health officials from 16 countries today asked for budgetary support "to ensure the sustainability of the existing vaccination programs and the introduction of new vaccines," at the conclusion of a global symposium on rotavirus. More »
	Immunization can drive economic growth, Harvard expert says Immunization programs can be highly effective tools for promoting economic growth and poverty reduction in developing countries, according to Dr. David Bloom of the Harvard School of Public Health. More »
	Mexico Health Minister Calls Rotavirus 'Major Public Health Priority' Rotavirus "is a major, major public health priority" for Mexico and for the Americas, Mexican Health Minister Dr. Julio Frenk said today at the opening of a global symposium on rotavirus, where health experts are discussing the latest information about the deadly disease. More »
	Cases of Rotavirus Higher than Previously Thought Cases of rotavirus worldwide are higher than previously thought, according to studies by Dr. Umesh Parashar of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) presented at a global symposium on rotavirus here today. More »
	The Impact of Rotavirus on the World’s Children: Press Briefing with Experts in Mexico City Experts convened at the 6th International Rotavirus Symposium in Mexico City will be available for comment on Wednesday, July 7, 2004, from 11 to 11:30am. More »
	World Health Experts Gather in Mexico to Discuss Deadly Rotavirus Health experts are preparing for a pivotal meeting in Mexico City July 7, where they will discuss the latest information about rotavirus, a deadly disease that kills half a million children each year, and review the status of vaccines against it. More »
	Experts to Report Progress on Vaccines Against Rotavirus Government representatives, scientists, public health professionals and vaccine industry representatives will meet in Mexico City to review progress toward safe, effective rotavirus vaccines and debate how to get them to the world's poorest children. More »
	Vaccination Week First reports indicate that Vaccination Week in the Americas was successful, with the poorest country of the continent, Haiti, setting an example by vaccinating 150,000 children, of which 20 percent had never received a vaccine, according to Pan American Health Organization officials. More »
	Famous comic book character Monica aids PAHO campaigns Monica, the famous comic book character created by Brazilian artist Mauricio de Sousa is acting as the spokesperson for a continental vaccination campaign coordinated by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). More »
	New Technologies Promise More Effective Vaccines, Experts Say A variety of new technologies driving vaccine research promise more effective and more clearly targeted vaccines, “but the constant evolution of microbes can only be combated by more biomedical research,” according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. More »
	Immunization Campaign Reaching the Americas’ Most Remote Regions Vaccination Week in the Americas, which runs through this Saturday, is now in full swing, with thousands of health workers mobilized throughout the Region. More »
	Region's Top Health Officials Launch Vaccination Week in Haiti The region's top health officials gathered Saturday in a small border village in this poor Caribbean nation to launch a hemisphere-wide vaccination week to save the lives of millions of children. More »
	Region’s Top Health Officials Launch Vaccination Week in Haiti The region's top health officials gathered Saturday in a small border village in this poor Caribbean nation to launch a hemisphere-wide vaccination week to save the lives of millions of children. More »
	Immunization in the Americas needs a shot in the arm As the first ever "Vaccination Week" in the Americas kicks off tomorrow, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and UNICEF warn that millions of children in the region are not fully protected against deadly childhood diseases. More »
	MEDIA ADVISORY: The Power of Vaccines in the 21st Century Some of the world's foremost experts in vaccines and immunization will give a briefing on critical health problems that vaccination will address in the 21st century, when bioterrorism looms as one of the biggest potential health problems and when emerging and re-emerging diseases affect the US as well as other countries in the world. More »
	'Most Vulnerable' Groups Will Benefit from Vaccination Week in the Americas Vaccination Week in the Americas, a hemispheric initiative that begins this Saturday, will reach out to the most vulnerable population groups in the Western Hemisphere: those in border areas and indigenous communities, which often lack access to health services. Coordinated by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the week-long initiative is expected to vaccinate 40 million people. More »
	PAHO Coordinates Launches of Vaccination Week in the Americas Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) director Dr. Mirta Roses Periago will launch in Haiti on Saturday the Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA). More »
	PAHO's Revolving Fund for Immunization: A Unique Regional Tool A quarter century ago, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and its member countries launched a unique procurement and financing mechanism to buy vaccines, syringes, and "cold chain" equipment – the basic components of their immunization programs. More »
	Media Advisory: Vaccination Week in the Americas For the first time, the U.S. and 34 other countries are doing immunization at the same time, starting April 24. The aim is to vaccinate 40 million people. PAHO will hold a media briefing on the vaccination plan Thursday April 22 at 9:30 am, with PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses and immunization experts. More »
	Preparations Underway as U.S. Joins International Vaccination Effort Preparations for an unprecedented effort to promote immunization in all countries of the Americas are underway and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will join the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and 35 countries for Vaccination Week in the Americas. More »
	21st Century Promises Unprecedented Progress in Vaccines The 21st century is shaping up to be the "century of vaccines," as vaccine developers make striking progress against both emerging and longstanding diseases, according to Vaccines: Preventing Diseases and Protecting Health, from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). More »
	Haiti to Participate in Vaccination Week in the Americas Despite the crisis, Haiti will participate in the unprecedented hemisphere-wide Vaccination Week in the Americas, and Pan American Health Organization Director Dr. Mirta Roses said today she will go to Haiti to launch the immunization drive there in April. More »
	Vaccination Week in the Americas Targets 40 Million People Health workers in every country in the Western Hemisphere will target millions of children, many in isolated areas, during a historic Vaccination Week in the Americas, starting April 24. More »
	Every Country in the Americas Joins Vaccination Week Countries from Canada to the tip of South America and throughout the Caribbean plan to take part in an unprecedented Vaccination Week in the Americas, set for the end of April. Millions of children, young women, and some seniors, mostly in remote areas, will be the beneficiaries. More »
	First Vaccination Week in the Americas Counts Successes As part of the first Vaccination Week in the Americas, ministers of health and first ladies joined health workers and community leaders at 10 border areas across the region to vaccinate hard-to-reach children. More »
	First Vaccination Week in the Americas Kicks Off on Sunday The first-ever Vaccination Week in the Americas will be launched this Sunday, with 19 countries mobilizing to immunize more than 15 million children under 5 and 2.7 million women of childbearing age. More »
	Measles Program In Americas Cited As Example For World In announcing a global commitment to reduce deaths from measles, World Health Organization officials here cited the Americas as an example for the world because of its success in eliminating the deadly childhood disease. More »
	Health Workers Mobilizing to Vaccinate Children in the Americas Some 100,000 health workers in 18 countries will head to border areas, isolated communities and marginalized urban populations during the first week of June to vaccinate millions of children who have not been immunized or who have not completed their series of vaccines. More »
	Americas Eager to See End of Polio, Welcomes Tactical Shift In World's Largest Public Health Initiative The Region of the Americas is eager to see the end of polio, a process that began here in 1985 when PAHO declared it would seek to drive the crippling disease from the hemisphere, according to the head of PAHO's Family and Community Health programs. More »
	First Vaccination Week in the Americas Starts June 1 Health officials are readying vaccines, looking for pockets of unvaccinated children, and arranging logistics in preparation for the first ever Vaccination Week in the Americas the first week of June, Pan American Health Organization officials said today. More »
	Sebastião Salgado Opens Exhibit on 'The End of Polio' At Pan American Health Organization November 26 Brazilian photojournalist Sebastião Salgado will open his exhibition 'The End of Polio: A Global Effort to End a Disease' at PAHO on Tuesday, November 26. The exhibition is being featured in conjunction with a major conference on the future of vaccines and public health. More »
	New challenges in vaccines: from West Nile to anthrax Throughout the world, infectious diseases are the second cause of death after cardiovascular disorders. Anthrax, the West Nile virus, and the threat of smallpox are among new challenges to face this century. More »
	MEDIA ADVISORY: Sebastião Salgado to Open Exhibit on 'The End of Polio' At Pan American Health Organization November 26 Brazilian Sebastião Salgado, a renowned photojournalist and a UNICEF Special Representative, will open the exhibit `The End of Polio: A Global Effort to End a Disease' at the Pan American Health Organization on Tuesday, November 26. More »
	MEDIA ADVISORY: Vaccines Take Center Stage at PAHO with Conference on Vaccines, Prevention and Public Health: A Vision for the Future Vaccines take center stage at the Pan American Health Organization next week, with a major conference on the future of vaccines starting Monday, November 25. More »
	Transmission of measles virus strain successfully interrupted in the Americas Measles remains the leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths worldwide, but by interrupting transmission of at least one indigenous strain, countries of the Americas have shown that global measles eradication following PAHO's recommended strategies is possible. More »
	More resources needed to vaccinate 95 percent of all children The new goal set by the 26th Pan American Sanitary Conference, a meeting of health ministers from all countries of the Americas, is that countries allocate enough resources to reach vaccination coverage of 95 percent everywhere. More »
	What do we have and what do we hope to develop in terms of vaccines? With three million deaths worldwide each year from diseases preventable by vaccination, it is not surprising that the Pan American Health Organization has a division entirely devoted to immunization programs and to vaccine development, since it is commonly accepted that vaccines are the safest and most cost-effective health interventions. More »
	Poliomyelitis: Eradicated From the Americas, On Its Way to Global Eradication In September of 1994 the Pan American Health Organization announced that polio had been eradicated from the Americas. Today a global effort is underway to put an end to the disease by 2005. More »
	Childhood Immunization: true investment in the health of nations Vaccination to control and eradicate communicable diseases has a long history, dating back to 1796 when the first smallpox vaccine was developed. Today, PAHO continues to promote immunization for all children in the Americas, sooner rather than later. More »
	Smallpox Fact Sheet It is not known if the variola virus--which causes smallpox--is kept by any state or terrorist groups for the purpose of bacteriological war or terrorism, but the possibility of such an attack has been widely reported. Here are some important facts about smallpox. More »