From UN Foundation ARTICLES DEC 26 2011

Give a Child a Shot@Life: Support Vaccines for Healthy Children

This past October I attended Blogalicious Weekend 2011 in Washington, DC. While there I met Caroline Barrett,  a program officer with Shot At Life, a new global initiative of the United Nations Foundation. Shot At Life  is a  movement to protect children worldwide by providing life-saving vaccines where they are most needed. As a mother and a global citizen, causes supporting global maternal and child health are near and dear to my heart. I know how important vaccines are as a foundation to a healthy childhood; my toddler son has just finished his crucial two-year sequence of vaccines. 

I recently sat down with Peg Willingham, Executive Director for Shot At Life, to get her take on why this is such an important intiative and what moms can do to get involved:

How did Shot At Life come about?
The United Nations Foundation has had a long history of running successful global health campaigns. So much so that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation approached us to launch a grassroots advocacy initiative to support vaccination of children where they are most needed. We worked with a number of global partners to help develop the campaign. In our research, we  realized that mothers of young children were an important audience because mothers typically make the healthcare decisions in the family. We came up with the name Shot@Life to educate people about prevention.  By and large it’s not something most of us think about, but almost two million children are dying each year from preventable diseases.

Why are vaccines such an important health prevention tool?
Right now about 80% of children are covered world wide by vaccines. In the last few years there has been a realization that this is one of the most  cost effective, medically effective interventions there is for health preservation. Especially during a time when budgets are tight, the small cost of a vaccine can make a huge differenence in a child’s life. You can protect not just a child but an entire community.

There are so many reasons vaccines are important. Really, they are a tool for social justice.   Vaccines give children a level playing field. They are helpful for brain development and learning because some childhood diseases can cause brain damage.  A vaccinated child gets a leg up educationally and when they do better in school, they will eventually contribute to their economy. What’s more if a family is displaced by disaster or war, these children are protected where ever they go