Eradicating polio – the last mile is in sight

Source: AlertNet/Bekele Geleta, IFRC

Never before has the world been so close to eradicating polio, a terrible disease that can paralyze a person for a lifetime. Today, the disease only exists in a few reservoirs around the world. What will it take to finish the last mile? I believe the answer is two-fold: community led engagement and greater access. This is where the Red Cross Red Crescent can join forces with champions of the cause such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, WHO, GAVI, Rotary International and others to cross the line.

Bloomberg donating 100M dollars to help fight polio

Source: Associated Press

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has pledged $100 million to help the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others to fight polio around the world.

Vaccines for all: new injection to GAVI Matching Fund

Source: Save the Children

Last week saw GAVI’s Matching Fund receive a new boost to its funding. The Dutch Postcode Lottery announced a €2.5 million donation to the fund, which will be matched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – translating into a €5 million injection.

After Measles Success, Rwanda to Get Rubella Vaccines

Source: New York Times

Rwanda has been so successful at fighting measles that next month it will be the first country to get donor support to move to the next stage — fighting rubella too. Rwanda can do so “because they’ve done such a good job on measles,” said Christine McNab, a spokeswoman for the Measles and Rubella Initiative. M.R.I. helped pay for previous vaccination campaigns in the country and the GAVI Alliance is helping to finance the upcoming one.

Kenyan school-going girls to receive free cervical cancer vaccination

Source: Standard Media

The first ever largescale programme to vaccinate Kenyan girls aged 9-13 against cervical cancer will take off within the next few months. In a statement released by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, (GAVI), Kenya is among eight countries which will start receiving the highly subsidised vaccine for a free immunisation campaign.

New Polio Strains That Protect Vaccine Factory Workers

Source: New York Times

Scientists have created new strains of polio intended to protect workers in factories that make polio vaccine. The new strains have the same ability to invoke an immune reaction as the live viruses now used to make vaccine do, but there is virtually no risk anyone will get polio if one of the new strains somehow escapes.

In Global Push for Vaccination, Moms Give Kids a Shot At Life

Source: TIME

Moms get things done. Which is why the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign brought 118 mothers — and two dads — to Washington, D.C. this week. Launched in 2012, Shot@Life promotes global vaccination as a way to decrease child mortality in the developing world.

Ghulam Nabi Azad wins award for two polio free years

Source: PTI

Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad today received an award in recognition of the landmark achievement of India completing two years with no newly reported cases of polio. The award was presented to Azad jointly by Gita Rao Gupta, Executive Director of UNICEF, Elen Evans, Deputy CEO of GAVI Alliance, and Ms Lis Mason, Director of the WHO.

Measles outbreaks hit 18-year high as effects of MMR scandal are felt

Source: The Guardian

Outbreaks of measles across England and Wales have reached the highest levels for 18 years, leaving young adults and teenagers whose parents did not get them immunised during the 1998 MMR scare most at risk, with many taken to hospital.

Science, faith communities unite to protect millions from disease

Source: CNN/Dagfinn Høybråten

Despite their political, religious and ethnic differences, leaders from around the world are coming together for today's National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. As they do, it is worth noting that faith and science are also coming together around the world to promote healing and equality in the form of access to vaccines.

One Less Cancer to Worry About (If Only)

Source: The Huffington Post

In 2013, around 12,000 American women will be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer and more than 4,000 will die from it. Globally, cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women worldwide, killing >275,000 every year. But these numbers will go down, must go down, because cervical cancer is now a fully preventable disease. Or isn't it? For developing countries that need these vaccines the most, the price tag is simply too high. The retail price in the U.S. is about 130 dollars per dose, with three shots required over six months. Encouragingly, the GAVI Alliance recently selected HPV vaccines for support.

Top bloggers lend their voices to February celebration of the impact of global vaccines

Source: UN Foundation

Every day this February, leading online influencers will share stories about how vaccines are making a powerful impact in people’s lives around the world. During Shot@Life’s 28 Days of Impact, these bloggers will tell the stories of children, mothers and community health worker who have seen the impact of vaccines first-hand, directly affected by vaccines and relate the stories to their own life experiences.

Eight developing countries to start HPV vaccine demonstration programs

Source: Xinhua

The GAVI Alliance announced Monday that eight developing countries will receive its support to start human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine demonstration programs, protecting more than 180,000 girls against the leading cause of cervical cancer.

Cancer’s Dangerous Mythology

Source: Project Syndicate/Seth Berkley

This year, World Cancer Day will focus on dispelling damaging myths about the disease. The theme – illustrated in the tagline “Cancer – Did you know?” – offers an opportunity to reflect on cancer’s true consequences and enhance global prevention and treatment efforts.