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Review
. 2024 Jul 22;12(7):812.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines12070812.

Vaccination Week in the Americas: An Ongoing Initiative to Strengthen and Sustain Measles and Rubella Elimination in the Region

Alba Maria Ropero  1 , Hannah Kurtis  1 , Lauren Vulanovic  1 , Pamela Bravo-Alcántara  1 , Maite Vera Antelo  1 , Margherita Ghiselli  1
Affiliations
Review

Vaccination Week in the Americas: An Ongoing Initiative to Strengthen and Sustain Measles and Rubella Elimination in the Region

Alba Maria Ropero et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA) is a yearly regional initiative that promotes the benefits of vaccination to all persons in the region. In its 22-year history, more than 1.15 billion people have been reached under the framework of VWA across more than 40 countries and territories. This review examines multiple PAHO and WHO data points, documents and reports related to measles/rubella vaccination coverage and VWA since its inception. Its goal is to document the impact that the VWA has had in maintaining and accelerating measles and rubella disease elimination, in the context of PAHO's Disease Elimination Initiative. The results suggest that VWA's contributions to measles and rubella elimination have been substantial. Every year, VWA promotes (a) renewed political commitment to the immunization program from the highest political authorities of Member States; (b) vaccination operations to close immunity gaps, recover under-vaccinated persons, and reach chronically underserved populations; and (c) the dissemination of messages on the benefits of vaccination through regional and national communications campaigns. VWA will continue to be an important contributor to disease elimination efforts in the Americas, even as new targets are set in response to the evolving epidemiological landscape.

Keywords: Vaccination Week in the Americas; elimination; immunity gap; measles; rubella.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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