Watch the webinar again
When: Tuesday, October 25, 2022
8:00 a.m. Belmopán, Guatemala City, Managua, Managua, San José, San Salvador, Tegucigalpa
9:00 a.m. Bogota, Kingston, Lima, Mexico City, Panama City, Quito
10:00 a.m. Asunción, Bridgetown, Caracas, Castries, Georgetown, Havana, La Paz, Nassau, Ottawa, Port-au-Prince, Port of Spain, San Juan, Santiago, Santo Domingo, Washington, D.C., Havana, Nassau, Ottawa, Port-au-Prince, Port of Spain, San Juan, Santiago, Santo Domingo, Washington
11:00 am. Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Paramaribo
Where:
The webinar will be held on the Zoom platform https://bit.ly/SeminarioReligiones
Simultaneous interpretation will be provided from Spanish into English, French and Portuguese. The event will bring together religious leaders from all major faith traditions in the region, members of national Interfaith Councils and regional networks of women of faith and interfaith youth, representatives of Ministries of Health from Latin American and Caribbean countries, PAHO immunization and communication focal points, and officials from partner organizations.
Program:
10:00 a.m. | Opening remarks
Dr. Daniel Salas, Chief of the Comprehensive Family Immunization Unit of the Department of Family, Health Promotion and Life Course (FPL/IM) of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO)
Elías Szczytnicki, regional secretary general of Religions for Peace Latin America and the Caribbean
10:10 a.m. | The status of the regional immunization program and interventions to increase vaccine demand
Dr. Margherita Ghiselli, Regional Advisor, Comprehensive Family Immunization Unit, Department of Family, Health Promotion and Life Course (FPL/IM) of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO)
10:30 a.m. | Why is it a religious duty to be vaccinated?
Chief Rabbi Isaac Sacca, Chief Rabbi of the Asociación Comunidad Sefardí de Buenos Aires (ACISBA)
10:45 a.m. | How can religions collaborate in the promotion of immunization?
Harold Segura, director of Faith and Development for World Vision Latin America and the Caribbean
11:00 am. | Round Table: Collaborative experiences in immunization promotion
Dr. Marc Rondy, International Immunization Advisor and Surveillance Focal Point for COVID-19 of the Guatemala Office of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO)
11:15 a.m. Questions and Answers
11:25 a.m. Closing remarks and closing remarks
Background:
On June 8, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Religions for Peace (RfP) Secretary General Prof. Azza Karam signed a memorandum of understanding between the two institutions to strengthen multi-faith collaboration with WHO in responding to the public health challenges heightened by the HIV/AIDS-19 pandemic. Earlier, on 29 March 2021, Dr. Adhanom Ghebreyesus met with nearly twenty senior RfP leaders from all major faith traditions for a high-level dialogue focused on the value of multi-faith cooperation in pandemic response and vaccination promotion.
Faith leaders shared with Dr. Tedros their collective experiences during the pandemic to bridge the gaps between science and faith, reach out to the underserved and most vulnerable, including refugees, migrants, children and women, address vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, address pandemic-impacted mental health and associated gender-based violence. Throughout the pandemic, faith-based institutions have provided critical infrastructure and effective means to distribute life-saving support. Faith leaders have joined countless efforts to help promote and sustain public health measures, inform and sensitize communities, and provide accurate vaccine information through their unprecedented reach to billions of followers worldwide.
When the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), WHO's regional office for the Americas, and Religions for Peace Latin America and the Caribbean began to plan a parallel partnership with the global level last year, they identified the decline in vaccination coverage and the increase of unvaccinated children in the region as a priority to be addressed with multi-religious collaboration, given the important role that faith-based actors play in people's lives. This decline in vaccination coverage, which had already begun before COVID-19, worsened during the pandemic, bringing the region to the brink of a public health crisis.