The Community Nursing Services of the Health Authority of Anguilla has come in for high praise for its award-winning success in vaccinating children and adults on the island against preventable diseases.
The work in this particular area of treatment was explained by the Coordinator of Community Nursing, Nurse Janice Hodge, in an address at the Mount Fortune Seventh-day Adventist Church on Saturday, April 21.
The occasion was the 16th Anniversary of Vaccination Week in the Americas and the administering of vaccinations in Anguilla for members of the general public at the Welches Polyclinic and the South Hill Health Centre throughout the week – Saturday, April 21 to Saturday, April 28.The treatments are for hepatitis B, MMR, diphtheria, tetanus, polio and varicella (chickenpox).
“We will also be vaccinating the 15-year-old students at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School with the third booster dose for polio, diphtheria and tetanus (DT) this week Wednesday and Thursday,” she stated.
Nurse Hodge reported that since the inception of World Immunisation Week more than 720 million people of all ages had been vaccinated against a wide range of diseases. “This number only tells part of the story,” she went on. “The Americas Region has been successful in the elimination of six vaccine preventable diseases: smallpox, polio, measles, mumps, rubella and congenital rubella syndrome.”
She added: “Let us strengthen our defence. Get vaccinated, because vaccines work” – a reference to the 2018 FIFA World Cup slogan, advising footballers about the importance of preventable diseases through vaccination.
The Coordinator of Community Nursing was accompanied to the church service by a number of other senior colleagues including the Acting CEO of the Heath Authority, Mrs. Meridith Gumbs. They were all welcomed by Pastor Trent Berg on behalf of the congregation.
Nurse Hodge, the top nursing official (from East End) stated that “in February this year (2018) Anguilla was awarded the Expanded Programme on Immunisation Caribbean Region Surveillance Award 2017 in recognition of excellent effort.”
She stressed that: “We could not have achieved this without the excellent teamwork of our colleagues in health who went beyond the call of duty to ensure that the [Anguillian] population received good health.” Her report was greeted with much applause from her listeners.
Nurse Hodge continued: “We, in Anguilla, must strive to maintain vaccination coverage of 95% and above, and improve our achievements by continuing to protect ourselves and our children from vaccine preventable diseases.
“We must also thank the Government of Anguilla which is committed to the Immunisation Programme through 100% funding of the programme, and the Health Authority for providing the manpower, facilities and whatever else it takes to maintain such an excellent programme.”
