Elizabeth Rechan at Parent911.
For young children living in the International Zone of Port-au-Prince, where security threats are high, it can be difficult to have their bodies immunized for pneumococcal disease, which can cause pneumonia, ear infections, and other illnesses. (Pneumococcal disease also causes anthrax in adults, and can cause meningitis in children under 5.) The epidemic may only continue as the new U.S. rules for first-time visitors to Haiti are reduced from 15 days to 7. This vaccine program will be offered for free to children under 18 years old, with residents choosing which vaccines to receive.
First, children are vaccinated against pneumococcal disease at schools. The second stop will be at a CIDNE medical facility on December 12, where they will be admitted before being vaccinated.
Sustainable aid and development interventions are key, organizers said.
Read the full story.