UN urges vaccination of Chinese children

The appeal was made at a joint press briefing by the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the Chinese health ministry ahead of China's National Immunization Day on Sunday. The theme of this year’s immunisation day is: “You and Me Together – Measles Elimination and Hepatitis B Control.”

Globally, measles is a leading cause of death among young children even though a safe and cost-effective vaccine exists. WHO estimates that the highly contagious viral disease caused 733,000 deaths worldwide in 2000. Between 2000 and 2008, measles vaccination resulted in a 78 per cent decline in measles-related deaths around the world.

“China is strongly committed to eliminating measles,” said Lisa Cairns, who heads the Expanded Programme for Immunization (EPI) team at WHO office in China. “In 2010, a vaccination campaign throughout the country will help China to stop transmission of measles. The decision to conduct this campaign was taken in consultation with WHO and is based on the success of similar national campaigns in other countries,” she added.

Hepatitis B is another viral infection that children can get early in life. Transmitted through contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person, it damages the liver slowly and leads to severe disease and potentially death in adulthood. In China, large-scale immunization since 1992 has caused the disease to almost disappear among younger children.

Cairns commended the provision of free vaccines to all children to prevent 12 diseases in China. Vaccines against three other diseases are available free of charge for certain high-risk groups.

“China has also made many efforts to increase the safety and quality of its vaccines,” she said, adding that as with all medications, the use of vaccines can have harmful effects on very rare occasions. Strong regulation and monitoring of adverse events are important to document the safety of vaccines and detect any unusual event that might occur.

“The benefit provided by the use of vaccines far outweighs the burden of these adverse events,” said Cairns, calling for everyone to heed vaccination recommendations.