Source: MSD |

Ask your questions LIVE to health experts from South Africa as the world marks the end of ‘African Vaccination Week’ 2019

MSD, commonly known as Merck in United States and Canada, will host an online press conference on the last day of the ‘African Vaccination Week’ 2019, to raise awareness on vaccine preventable life-threatening diseases and the need for their prevention across Africa

Immunization both for children and adults saves millions of lives every year and is widely recognized as one of the world’s most successful and cost-effective health interventions

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, April 28, 2019/APO Group/ --

Journalists interested in attending this event will be able to ask questions live via Internet.

Speakers: Lizeth Kruger, Specialized Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner and Dr Doreen Sindisiwe van Zyl, General health Practitioner (GP), in Kempton Park, South Africa

Date: Tuesday April 30, 2019

Time: From 10:00am South African Time SAT – (Time Converter: https://bit.ly/2Iy3pnI)

Languages: English and French

How it works: This service is FREE and only requires a computer or phone connected to the internet.

REGISTER (ignore if you have already registered): www.APO-opa.com/application/

Details:

Are you aware that according to recent findings, cervical cancer is likely to kill more than 443,000 women yearly worldwide by 2030, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa (Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy) (http://bit.ly/2IJLuLD)?

Over 78,000 women across Africa die from cervical cancer annually with South Africa (http://bit.ly/2DynfvG) alone loosing over 4248 each year, 10403 in Nigeria (http://bit.ly/2V4wDSN), 2451 in Kenya (http://bit.ly/2IZqPSY) 2275 in Uganda (http://bit.ly/2ZFBHeH), 1556 in Ghana (http://bit.ly/2LgC5gu), 2879 in Malawi (http://bit.ly/2VuqOxa), 4884 in Ethiopia (http://bit.ly/2IOLMAW), 2081 in Burkina Faso (http://bit.ly/2ILonQT) and 1367 in Senegal (http://bit.ly/2UXtXWO), to name but a few African countries.

According to the World health Organization (WHO), immunization both for children and adults saves millions of lives every year and is widely recognized as one of the world’s most successful and cost-effective health interventions. Immunization prevents illness, disability and death from vaccine-preventable diseases including cervical cancer, diphtheria, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, whooping cough, pneumonia, polio, rotavirus diarrhea, rubella and tetanus all which are common killers of millions of people across the continent.

Every last week of April Africa joins the world to celebrate African Vaccination Week (AVW) (http://bit.ly/2L8k1Fy) in synchronization with the other WHO regions and the World Immunization Week (WIW) (http://bit.ly/2IL08SO), to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease.

African Vaccination week 2019 started on April 24th and will end on April 30th under the theme: Protected Together: Vaccines Work!

The campaign will celebrate Vaccine Heroes from around the world – from parents and community members to health workers and innovators – who help ensure all people are protected through the power of vaccines. Expanding access to immunization is vital for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, poverty reduction and universal health coverage.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of MSD.