The
Newsletter of the Pan American Health Organization - July
2008Vaccination Week in the Americas 2008
This year's Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA), held April 19–26, counted 44 participating countries in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. High-profile launching events featuring special guests and dignitaries kicked off the week in a number of countries and border areas, including the Panama–Costa Rica border, the U.S.–Mexico border, and the Amazon border of Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. As in previous years, people around the region showed their support for the hemispheric initiative by participating in special events and by getting themselves and their children vaccinated.
PAHO Director Mirta Roses injects a Panamanian boy with pentavalent vaccine during a regional launch for Vaccination Week in the Americas in Guabito, Panama, on the border with Costa Rica. Observing are Panamanian President Martín Torrijos (center right) and Nils Kastberg, UNICEF regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean. Photo © Harold Ruiz/PAHO
Children in Granada, Nicaragua, clown for a PAHO photographer. Millions of children throughout the Americas received vaccines during the week-long VWA initiative, now in its sixth year. Photo © Harold Ruiz/PAHO
 Rosaly Correa de Araujo, director of the Office of the Americas in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, participated in the U.S.–Mexico launch of Vaccination Week in El Paso, Texas, on April 21. Photo © Sonia Mey-Schmidt/PAHO |
 A toddler admires the Vaccination Week sticker she received after getting her vaccines. Photo © Harold Ruiz/PAHO |
 Children like this Nicaraguan boy will have healthier lives thanks to the benefits of immunization. Photo © Harold Ruiz/PAHO |
(From left) UNICEF Regional Director Nils Kastberg, PAHO Champion of Health Jerry Rivera, PAHO Director Mirta Roses, Latin pop singer Ricardo Montaner, and PAHO Representative in Panama Guadalupe Verdejo during kickoff activities for Vaccination Week in the Americas in Panama on April 19. Photo © Ary Silva/PAHO
Children carry PAHO–Sesame Street posters through the streets of Guabito, Panama, on the Costa Rican border, to promote Vaccination Week in the Americas. PAHO first teamed up with Sesame Workshop, producers of Sesame Street, for VWA 2007, and the partnership continues, with Sesame Street characters appearing on posters, stickers, banners, and other promotional materials for the hemispheric initiative. Photo © Harold Ruiz/PAHO
New PAHO Assistant Director Socorro Gross (left) celebrates the launching of Vaccination Week in the Americas with Minister of Health of Nicaragua Guillermo González, near the Nicaragua–Costa Rica border on April 19. Photo © Harold Ruiz/PAHO
Minister of Health of Costa Rica María Luisa Ávila gives a young girl oral polio vaccine as PAHO’s José Romero Teruel and Socorro Gross look on. Photo © Harold Ruiz/PAHO
PAHO Director Mirta Roses and Secretary of Health of Mexico José Ángel Córdova celebrate with local school children during the U.S.–Mexico border launch of Vaccination Week in the Americas, in El Paso, Texas, on April 21. Photo © Sonia Mey-Schmidt/PAHO