Tag: Vaccines
Webcast: Polio Eradication and the Power of Vaccines (with Bill Gates)
Please tune in for a special webcast featuring Bill Gates, ABC World News anchor Diane Sawyer, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Oshinsky, and a panel of experts on:
Polio Eradication and the Power of Vaccines
Monday, January 31, 9:30 a.m. ET at www.gatesfoundation.org
To launch Bill Gates’ 3rd annual letter, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation invites you to join a conversation about the extraordinary progress in the fight to eradicate polio and the enormous lifesaving potential of vaccines.
Thanks to a global childhood immunization effort, polio has been reduced by 99% and we are on the cusp of eradicating only the second disease in history. This presents a powerful case for the value of vaccines.
Unique Perspectives
Bill Gates will join global leaders to discuss what the past can teach us about protecting children around the world from polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases. The event will be moderated by ABC World News anchor Diane Sawyer, and speakers include:
Dr. David Oshinsky, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, “Polio: An American Story”
Professor Helen Rees, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa; and Chair, WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization
Dr. Ciro de Quadros, Executive Vice President, Sabin Vaccine Institute
Panelists will discuss why now is the time to rid the world of polio and ensure all children have access to lifesaving vaccines. No child deserves to face the threat of preventable disease, whether it’s polio, measles, or pneumonia.
To watch the live webcast, please visit www.gatesfoundation.org on Monday, January 31 at 9:30 a.m. ET. It will also be available on demand following the event.
About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. Learn more at www.gatesfoundation.org.
Rotavirus—the most common and lethal form of diarrhea—deadly for children
Rotavirus—the most common and lethal form of diarrhea—is one of the most deadly diseases facing children
By Dr. John Wecker, director of the Vaccine Access and Delivery Global Program at PATH
Whether you have heard of rotavirus before or not, it may surprise you to know that you’ve probably had it. Nearly everyone in the world will have at least one rotavirus infection by age 3.
In wealthy countries, ready access to medical care means that few children will die from rotavirus. And with the recent availability of vaccines, the risk of dying, or of ever having to be hospitalized because of rotavirus, has dropped dramatically.
In the developing world, the situation is completely different. Rotavirus—the most common and lethal form of diarrhea—is one of the most deadly diseases a child will face.
This global health crisis can be solved by making rotavirus vaccines widely available in the developing world. The World Health Organization recommends that these vaccines be included in every country’s immunization program. What is lacking is the political will at all levels to make this happen.
Raising awareness about the toll of this disease and the promise that vaccines hold to save lives is critical for building political will. Recently, the scientific Journal of Infectious Diseases released a special supplement on rotavirus, Global Rotavirus Surveillance: Preparing for the Introduction of Rotavirus Vaccines. It provides a comprehensive review of the latest information about rotavirus disease and the role that vaccination can play.
Not only is rotavirus not well known as a major killer of children worldwide, but the fact that diarrheal disease is responsible for the death of 1.5 million young children each year in developing countries is lost on a world that takes for granted access to sanitation, clean water and basic health services. In a recent New York Times story the chief of health at UNICEF, Mickey Chopra, was quoted as saying, “All the attention has gone to more glamorous diseases, but this basic thing has been left behind. It’s a forgotten disease.”
Included below is a short release on the special rotavirus supplement.
To access the supplement, please visit: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jid/200/s1.
For more information on rotavirus, read: Common Virus and Senseless Killer: Briefing Paper on Rotavirus
Learn more at www.PATH.org or www.EDDControl.org
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