The report State of the World’s Children 2023: For Every Child, Immunizationfrom the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), officially released this Thursday (20)recommends actions to the federal government so that Brazil can resume vaccination coverage and increase Brazilians’ confidence in immunizations.
The document was released in Brasilia, at an event at the headquarters of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). The report shows, in the part about Brazil, that around 1.6 million children have not received any dose of DTP vaccinewhich prevents diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, between 2019 and 2021. To change this scenario, the Unicef representative in Brazil, Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, Brazil, listed four recommendations:
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- Carrying out an active search for unvaccinated children or those whose vaccination schedule is overdue;
- Strengthening of SUS, with investment and appreciation of health professionals, mostly women;
- Prioritization of funding for immunization and primary health care services that focus on childhood;
- Expansion of communication campaigns aimed at families with children.
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The Unicef representative warned that the report shows that the perception of the importance of vaccines in Brazil has diminished. Before the pandemic, 99.1% of Brazilians trusted childhood vaccines and, in the post-covid-19 period, the index dropped to 88.8%.
For Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, however, it is possible to change this situation. “The Brazilian population is one of those who trust vaccines the most, but this trust has fallen during the pandemic and needs to be resumed”.
He even remembered the history of Brazil, in previous decades. “The country has always been an example in the National Immunization Program, the PNI, and has one of the largest health systems in the world, the Unified Health System, the SUS, which needs to be valued and strengthened”, he defended.
Brazilian government actions
Present at the meeting, the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, reinforced that the new management of the portfolio is coordinating the National Movement for Vaccination to increase vaccination coverage, together with states and municipalities. “We will visit some municipalities and we are working to strengthen the active search, guiding the municipalities so that, through the (Family Health) teams, community health agents and surveillance agents, they can carry out this active search and see where the children are. unvaccinated.”
Minister Nísia says that the government must adopt the active search for unvaccinated children – Júlia Prado/ Ascom Ministry of Health
Regarding the low recognition of the importance of vaccines and science by Brazilians, Nísia defends the reversal of this situation. “The memory of the impact of measles and polio seems to have been lost. As Akira Homma (Brazilian scientist) always says ‘We are victims of our success’, but we cannot settle for this diagnosis. We have elements ahead, such as the active search for these children and other strategies that should be used.”
The minister stressed that mobilization campaigns are already being carried out to clarify the population. “Right now, we are focusing on the influenza vaccine, based on the regularization that we had to carry out in stocks of vaccines against polio, measles and other vaccines used in childhood, we are preparing these campaign actions, starting in May. ”
Zé Gotinha and Monica
The Brazilian characters Zé Gotinha, created for childhood vaccination campaigns, and Mônica, from Mauricio de Sousa’s comics, appointed Unicef ambassador in Brazil since 2007, were present at the morning release of the report.
The character Mônica, named UNICEF ambassador in Brazil, participated in the event at PAHO/WHO headquarters – Júlia Prado/ Ascom Ministry of Health
As part of the expansion of communication campaigns aimed at families with children, the Unicef representative Youssouf Abdel-Jelil recalled the strength of Zé Gotinha. “I’ve already been told that all Brazilians remember the campaigns with Zé Gotinha, years ago. And I know he’s back at work in Brazil. Together with Minister Nísia.”
in the Americas
In the international field, Brazil joins the Vaccination Week of the Americas, which will be held from April 24th to 30th. “We want to exchange experiences and have a firm and constant voice so that this scenario is reversed”, planned minister Nísia.
In her speech at the event, the PAHO representative in Brazil, Socorro Gross, pointed out challenges to increase vaccination coverage in the region. And she celebrated the adhesion of the Brazilian ministry to the Vaccination Week of the Americas, before the official celebration by the other countries. “We are together to accompany the entire team in the states and in the 5,570 municipalities. Together on this journey, which is a long one, but it is to offer health to everyone, in this year of recovery”, she highlighted.
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