European Immunization Week to start in late April in Kyrgyzstan

The European Immunization Week (EIW) will start in Kyrgyzstan on April 24 and will last until April 30. The Republican Center for Health Promotion (RCHP) informed.

The main goal of the campaign is to prevent, protect and vaccinate unprotected layers of the population. During the EIW, 25 visiting and 22 mobile teams of medical workers will be formed, who will organize vaccination points in the territory of new residential areas and distant pastures.

«Thanks to the planned immunization of the population in Kyrgyzstan, the incidence of vaccine-preventable infections (diphtheria, tetanus, measles, rubella, pertussis, poliomyelitis, parotitis, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis B) is declining from year to year. Since 1993, polio has not been registered in the republic, there have been no diphtheria and tetanus in the last 15 years, other vaccine-preventable infections have been reduced to single cases," RCHP noted.

«In the last years, the republic has faced a large internal and external migration of the population. There are remote and distinct areas (distinct pastures, winter huts) where children do not receive timely preventive vaccinations. There is an increase in cases of refusal of immunization on the basis of religious beliefs and fear of post-vaccination complications," the center added.

In 2006, the states of the European Regional Bureau adopted a resolution on conducting of annual EIW for additional immunization of people. Kyrgyzstan supports this initiative since 2007.