ShotAtLife

Yesterday, United Nations Foundation, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and UNICEF hosted an event at where global health leaders and civil society discussed how to sustain life-saving health services for mothers and children during humanitarian crises.

One key takeaway: Health services already in place for and can be leveraged to keep communities safe from other deadly diseases as well.

It’s World Immunization Week!

Vaccines are one of the most remarkable – and impactful – medical inventions of all time. In the last 50 years, global immunization programs have saved more than 154 million lives.

That’s one life saved every 10 seconds, for five decades.

Today, we’re at the brink of ending polio, have protected countless millions from measles, and can turn the tide against malaria – all thanks to the power of immunization.

But it’s up to us to expand access to vaccines so that every child, no matter where they live, is protected.

Fighting polio isn’t just about preventing and treating cases. It’s about catching outbreaks before they can spread.

But did you know the early warning systems developed for polio also help catch outbreaks of novel and emerging disease threats?

Check out this episode of Global Dispatches to learn how: https://www.globaldispatches.org/how-existing-disease-surveillance