Everyday Heroes Immunize The World's Children

For World Immunization Week, a salute to the dedicated frontline workers who have made it their mission to protect children everywhere from preventable infectious disease.

Imagine you are the matriarch of a big family that – like many families – has spread across the country you live in. In one district where half of your grandchildren live, those children have reliable access to good health care and vaccines that can protect them from diseases like measles and pneumonia. In a poor neighborhood of a big city, where the other half lives, kids routinely miss out on vaccines and your grandchildren there are left vulnerable to debilitating diseases.  

This may be an imaginary scenario, but the circumstances it describes are not. Despite the incredible progress the world has made in increasing immunization coverage, a child’s likelihood of being protected from preventable infectious disease is often dictated by where he or she lives. A recent study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation found that while many African countries have substantially increased the number of immunized children, there are still major differences in vaccination coverage from village to village, county to county and state to state.

"Despite the incredible progress the world has made in increasing immunization coverage, a child's likelihood of being protected from preventable infectious disease is often dictated by where he or she lives."

In 29 of the 52 countries studied, basic immunization coverage varied by more than 25 percent at the district level – meaning we have inequities no grandmother, or anyone for that matter, wants to see. Closing this equity gap requires political commitment, funding and innovation to reach every last child. But it also requires the unrelenting dedication of countless health workers, immunization managers, community volunteers and disease surveillance officers, (and let’s not forget the parents!) whose mission is it to make sure that child survival does not depend on where he or she lives.

This week is World Immunization Week. Celebrated the last week of April, it aims to promote the lifesaving power of vaccines to protect people of all ages against preventable diseases. It seems more relevant now than ever, in light of the global measles outbreak. To celebrate this week, I want to highlight some everyday heroes who have inspired me with their commitment to immunization. 

Sa’adatu Ibrahim, Deputy Routine Immunization Manager, Kano State, Nigeria

A region’s vaccination coverage is often a reflection of the quality of leadership at the helm of its immunization program. That is the case with Sa’adatu Ibrahim in Kano State, Nigeria, whom I first met eight years ago. It was clear then that Sa'adatu was dedicated to her job, but she was sometimes hesitant to speak up in front of her colleagues. On my last trip to Kano six months ago, I was thrilled to see Sa’adatu leading meetings with comfortable authority, decisive input, and strong management. And, unlike my first visit to Kano a decade ago when I couldn’t find a single vaccinated child, I was impressed that this time it was hard to find a child who had not been vaccinated. The immunization of each of these children is in part owed to Sa’adatu and the large team working hard with her in Kano State and at the national level. Her guidance, hard work and leadership have been key to strengthening Kano’s routine immunization program. Kano State still has a long way to go to reach every child with vaccines, but it is this kind of team commitment that will continue to propel countries like Nigeria down the path of progress. 

"A region's vaccination coverage is often a reflection of the quality of leadership at the helm of its immunization program."

Tran Thi Kim Tuyen, Commune EPI Officer, Vietnam

Vaccinating every child requires that we find new ways of doing things, even if they are seemingly mundane. Take record keeping, for example. Many health clinics around the globe are burdened with back rooms overflowing with paper records of patients, supplies, and more. New electronic record keeping systems are giving us new ways to better track which kids have received their immunizations and which ones are still missing out, surpassing in countless ways the current paper-based systems. But there’s a catch – they only work if people know how to use and maintain them. Enter Ms. Tuyen. As the only one with computer skills in her clinic, Ms. Tuyen took charge of the digital tracking system and started to put it into routine use. Not only that, Ms. Tuyen dedicated her time and effort to teaching others how to use the tool too. Now the entire clinic is able to use the system and ultimately reach more kids with vaccines.

"We know, and are witnessing now more than ever, the importance of building a community’s trust in immunization. Nobody knows this better than the health workers who tirelessly devote their time and energy to getting vaccines to children. "

Countless Health Workers 

We know, and are witnessing now more than ever, the importance of building a community’s trust in immunization. Nobody knows this better than the health workers who tirelessly devote their time and energy to getting vaccines to children. I’ve witnessed these individuals in Nigeria, Vietnam and countless other communities. They are part nurse, part scientist, part community organizer, full-scale relationships builders who must create deep and mutual respect within the communities they work and often live in.

These relationships are indispensable so families fully understand the importance of getting their children vaccinated and gain trust in the safety of vaccines. And they are often a family’s only touch points in the health system for broader health conversations for things like nutrition and family planning. They often trudge miles on foot or on bikes with small vaccine coolers. They set up in the heat of the day under the shade of a tree. They post themselves in health clinics, while the stream of parents line up with their children for routine immunizations. They are truly heroes. 

These individuals are just some examples of the millions of people around the world whose hard work and dedication are ensuring we can be all protected from vaccine-preventable diseases, one child at a time. If we continue to recognize, celebrate and support heroes like these who go above and beyond in their daily jobs, I am confident that one day soon we will reach every child with lifesaving vaccines.