Montserrat joins the rest of the Americas in celebrating Vaccination Week 2016.
Staff of the community health centres along with the Hon. Minister of Health Delmaude Ryan kicked off the week by worshipping with the St. John’s Church of God of Prophecy on Sunday morning.
World athletics champion Usain Bolt has joined the campaign, now in its 14th year.
“Being the best athlete I can means staying healthy – including keeping up to date on my vaccines,” Bolt says in a social media post for the campaign. In the PSA, he says “I’m up to date on my vaccines. Are you?” and urges viewers to “Go for the gold” and get vaccinated.
“Go for the gold – Get vaccinated!” is the campaign slogan for this year’s Vaccination Week in the Americas, which takes place from April 23 to 30. It references the upcoming 2016 summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, in which Bolt is scheduled to compete.
“Vaccination is one of the most effective means we have to protect the health of children as well as adults,” said PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne. “Having a world-class champion like Mr. Bolt supporting our campaign will help us reach more people with information on the benefits of vaccination – and for that, we are enormously grateful.”
Visit www.paho.org/vwa for vaccination facts, statistics, colouring pages and more.
