I would like to thank you for inviting me to the National Advisory Committee on Vaccines' Press Conference on "European Immunization Week" and I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the important work that the President and the Members of the Committee are doing on vaccination issues.
The reconstituted Committee in 2018, contributed to the update of the National Vaccination Programme of Cyprus which includes the updated Child and Adolescent Vaccination Scheme, the new Adult Vaccination Scheme and the new Special Groups Vaccination Scheme, in the context of the YESY. At the same time, with the aim of shielding citizens, especially those belonging to high risk groups, to prevent and control the transmission of COVID-19, the National Advisory Committee on Vaccination periodically updates its decisions on vaccination against the disease in accordance with the new data.
Vaccination is an essential public health tool, an intervention that:
- helps protect millions of human lives annually
- contributes to the sustainability of health care systems
- reduces the burden of infectious diseases and antibiotic use
- macro-economically helps protect specific economic sectors such as travel, tourism, retail, transport and entertainment.
These findings were reinforced by the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, which undoubtedly highlighted the value of vaccination, in combination with other public health measures, as a powerful shield to protect the citizen for a return to normality.
Every April, the European, community celebrates the importance of vaccines and how they protect people of all ages from many diseases, giving us the opportunity for a quality life. The aim is to educate the public about why vaccines are essential to the health of millions of people around the world. This year's theme, The Big Catch-Up, is an opportunity to raise awareness about the urgent and critical need to vaccinate children, adolescents and adults who missed vaccine doses due to the pandemic, which increases their risk of contracting various preventable diseases.
In conclusion, I would like to stress that for the Ministry of Health to succeed in establishing vaccination as a key pillar of health policy, proper adherence to the National Vaccination Programme, as well as timely and equitable access to it for the population, should be a common goal with all stakeholders.
(DK)
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