Immunization Awareness Month

August is National Immunization Awareness Month

The month of August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), an important current global discussion on the benefits, side effects and health-related topics. The National Immunization Awareness month raises the importance of the various vaccinations and the prevention of serious and/or deadly diseases. All 50 states require children entering public schools to be vaccinated, with some exceptions to medical, religious and physical exemptions. However, no US federal laws mandate these vaccinations. There are more vaccinations to come, progress is being made to create vaccines for pneumonia, AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and diarrheal diseases.

How this holiday unites people

National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) unites people in health and discussion. It provokes discussions on what’s best not only for each individual, but for the whole community as well. Discussions can help build more innovation and better health care for all.

Debates on Vaccines

There is serious discussion on the pros and cons of vaccines. The biggest concern are usually the side effects they may cause, and the questionable ingredients used to produce them. There should be no doubt that vaccinations have saved millions of lives, have decreased deadly diseases, saved billions of dollars and has personal economic benefits. Meanwhile, on rare occasions it causes serious and fatal side effects, the ingredients can be unnatural and harmful, it raises distrust of pharmaceutical corporations and some people disagree with having government intervention on the personal health-choices an individual wants to make. The current debate on vaccinations have caused their importance to falter within certain groups and, it has caused certain diseases to re-emerge, such as pertussis and the measles.

Brief history of diseases and vaccinations

• After the emergence of vaccinations, common diseases started to become rare in developed countries, which has prevented countless deaths and saved billions in public health. 

• During the 20th century: 

  • Smallpox was the of the worst disease that threatened public health. It was causing more deaths than the wars at the time. 

  • During 1967, The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated 15 million people with smallpox and around 2 million died because of it. 

• Polio was the most feared disease after World War II and it left 21,000 people paralyzed in the U.S. Due to vaccines the threat of polio has been reduced an incredible 99%. 

• The measles outbreak has decreased 75%; Over 10 million people keep contracting measles each year across the world. 

• The rubella vaccine introduced in 1969 has reduced its outbreak. Approximately 110,000 cases are reported per year. 

• Diphtheria has been re-emerging in some areas of the world. Around 2,500 cases per year in developing countries. 

• Pertussis (whopping cough), it infected around 200,000 people in the U.S. 

The increase in the development of vaccines after World War II has been revolutionary. With the help of vaccines many life-threatening diseases have been eradicated, it has especially controlled polio and the measles. The combat against these diseases required massive mobilization and group efforts to be able to achieve it. Diseases such as, polio measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, and pertussis were reduced from epidemics to rare cases. Many companies have also gone out of business which has hindered the vaccine supplies.

Tips to spread awareness

• Have a guest speaker at schools to teach about the importance of vaccinations.
• Share important information online. Use #Ivax2Protect
• Bring conversations about vaccines with others to gain new perspectives and information.
• Encourage people into protecting themselves by getting the flu/influenza vaccine.
• Join and help a campaign that promotes vaccination.