IMA World Health/Kara Eberle
I
MA World Health (IMA) has worked for more than 50 years to make our vision of health, healing and well-being for all a reality. Our goal is to build healthier communities by collaborating with key partners to serve vulnerable people in some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities.
One way we strengthen communities is by working to ensure children in these areas receive vaccinations against preventable diseases.
According to the most recent World Health Organization (WHO) estimate, 1.5 million children die every year of diseases that could be readily prevented by vaccines that already exist.
That’s why we’re joining WHO during World Immunization Week (April 24-30) to raise awareness about the importance of immunization.
What does our work mean in real world terms?
It means 232,781 babies in the Democratic Republic of Congo were vaccinated against measles by their first birthday from April 2013 to March 2014. (Read more about our ASSP Project here.)
It means 132,897 children were vaccinated against measles by the time they turned 1 in South Sudan from July 2013 and June 2014. (Read more about our Rapid Results Health Project here.)
It means 80,185 children received diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccines (DTP3) by their first birthdays in South Sudan between July 2013 and June 2014. (Read more about our Rapid Results Health Project here.)
That’s nearly a half million lives changed.
Help us continue this important work.
All gifts to IMA are matched $1 for $1 up to $40,000 until June 30. Make your donation today to take advantage of the opportunity to double your gift.
Closer to closing the gap
Part of IMA’s commitment to immunization includes working with and supporting Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Gavi is an international organization that brings together public and private sectors with a shared goal: to create equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries, according to its website, https://www.gavi.org.
IMA’s President and CEO Rick Santos serves on the Steering Committee for the Gavi Alliance’s Civil Society (CSO) Constituency, a relationship that shows IMA’s deep organizational commitment to the health and well-being of children and families worldwide.
Earlier this year, world leaders made a record-breaking commitment to protect the poorest children with vaccines. The new pledges, totalling US$ 7.5 billion, will enable countries to immunize an additional 300 million children, leading to 5 to 6 million premature deaths being averted and economic benefits of between US$ 80 and US$ 100 billion for developing countries through productivity gains and savings in treatment and transportation costs and caretaker wages, according to a Gavi press release.