Vaccines save lives, its a fact. Another fact, vaccines aren’t effective if they aren’t being used. One child dies every 20 seconds from a disease that could be prevented with a vaccine, that’s 1.5 million children a year. One point five million lives that could be saved by a vaccine that already exists!
Vaccines have helped reduce and eliminate many diseases and illnesses like measles, polio and pneumococcal disease which causes pneumonia and meningitis.We have the tools to reduce and eradicate diseases but we still need the money and resources to get those vaccines to countries in need!
Worldwide, polio cases have been reduced 99% over the last two decades. Today, polio is common in only three countries, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan, compared to 125 in 1988. Great progress has been made, but new cases have begun emerging in Angola, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Until the world is polio free, its presence anywhere threatens children everywhere!
This is the closest the world has been to eradicating polio! Its so difficult to eradicate a disease that its only happened once, EVER, with smallpox. Wouldn’t it be amazing to be a part of making history and saving lives?
We can reduce the cost of treating life threatening diseases and save billions of dollars by ramping up delivery of vaccines in 72 of the world’s poorest countries.What can you do to help? Its simple really, write to your member of Congress and ask them to make funding for critical vaccination programs like the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), a priority within the U.S. foreign aid budget.
A few minutes of your time and a few clicks, less than what you spend on Facebook during a day, can help save children’s lives!
Shot@Life teaches and empowers Americans to champion vaccines, while connecting them with leaders to make a difference. The Shot@Life Campaign encourages the public, members of Congress and organizations to work together to increase access to vaccines throughout the world.
Of course there are several other ways you can become involved and help give a child a shot at life. Learn more about the organization and ways you can help on Facebook, join the conversation to #endpolio on Twitter @ShotatLife or see what’s happening on Pinterest.