High level of child immunisation

Malta has a high take-up of immunisation among children, and a leaflet published by the Health Division to mark European Immunisation Week aims to help keep it that way.

School Health Services coordinator Victoria Farrugia St Angelo said around 95 per cent of children are immunised against diphtheria (throat infection), tetanus and polio, which is obligatory by law.

She explained that children with certain health problems could not be immunised.

The vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella, normally taken when the child is 15 months old, is given to around 85 per cent of children.

Around 83 per cent of children were also being vaccinated against hepatitis, she added.

According to the World Health Organisation, around three million people around the globe - 1.4 million of them children - die of vaccine-preventable diseases annually.

More than half a million children living in the WHO's European region do not receive vaccination against diseases which lead to disability and even death.

Immunisation prevents death and disability at a fraction of the cost of treatment and benefits both the patient and society.

Dr Farrugia St Angelo said that the leaflet, published in Maltese and English, promotes vaccination and addresses parents' fears.

Fears stemmed mainly from misconceptions, including the disproved links between the whooping cough jab and brain damage and between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism.

The leaflet lists the illnesses against which children can be vaccinated and notes when children should not be jabbed. It also lists a number of contra-indications and points out when immunisation should not be postponed.

Vaccines listed on the National Schedule are given free of charge at Health Centres.

Vaccines administered to schoolchildren are given by doctors and nurses from the Primary Health Care's School Health Service.

Health Minister Louis Deguara, who was present at the launch at the Naxxar Primary School, said the incidence of many contagious diseases has dropped thanks to vaccination. European Immunisation Week was first held in 2005 with nine countries participating. This year 24 countries are taking part.