World Immunisation Week 2019

This week is World Immunisation Week. The campaign, run by the World Health Organisation, aims to promote the core message that immunisation of every child is vital to prevent diseases and protect life.

The goal of World Immunisation Week is to increase vaccination coverage by raising awareness of the importance of childheed immunisation among parents and caregivers, health care professionals, policy and decision-makers, and the media.

Please visit the World Health Organisation’s website to read more facts about their campaign and why it is important to vaccinate your children:

www.who.int/campaigns/world-immunization-week/world-immunization-week-2019

Also for an easy to read guide about how vaccines work and some key facts about child vaccination, please see the following article from Public Health England:

www.publichealthengland.exposure.co/childhood-vaccination 

Some of the facts that are covered within this article include:

• Children should be immunised at the very earliest opportunity
• A child’s immune system cannot be overloaded by too many vaccines
• Your child can get vaccinated even if they have a mild illness, allergy, or history of seizures or convulsions
• Do not delay your baby’s vaccinations if they were born prematurely
• New-born babies have short-term protection against several diseases if their mother was vaccinated
• There is no evidence that homeopathy is a good alternative to vaccinations

In addition, the article explains what ‘herd immunity’ is and why it matters, as well as details of the NHS vaccination schedule (pictured below).