WHAT: UNICEF and the Permanent Mission of Japan are hosting a high-level event at the United Nations in New York to bring together technical experts, policy makers, governments, civil society and the private sector to combat misinformation on vaccines. This will be the first event of its kind to take place at the United Nations in New York, focusing on building trust on vaccines. Experts will analyze how we can improve stagnating or declining vaccination rates, and champion children’s right to immunization. At the event, UNICEF will also release a brief on the causes of vaccine hesitancy, based on trend data over the past four years. Please contact ssidhu@unicef.org for an embargoed copy of the brief.
WHO:
UNICEF and the Japanese Mission to the UN Hosted a meeting on Friday 28 June at UN Headquarters, looking at issues of misinformation and distrust around vaccines.
• UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore
• H.E Mr Koro Bessho, Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations
• Ethan Lindenberger, vaccine advocate
• Laura Trevelyan, BBC correspondent
• Dr. Stewart Simonson, Assistant Director General, World Health Organization
• Dr. Chris Wolff, Deputy Director, Vaccine Delivery, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Dr. Gillian Steelfisher, Senior Research Scientist, Harvard
• Mr. Jason Hirsh, Head, Health Policy, Facebook
WHEN: 13:15 - 14:30 pm, Friday, 28 June 2019
WHERE: UN Headquarters, New York or watch live through this link
WHY: Vaccines save millions of lives, yet in low- and middle-income countries, large numbers of children go unvaccinated mainly because of limited availability and access to services. But in some countries, an emerging threat is misinformation, largely through social media. Anti-vaccine groups have effectively exploited social media, creating confusion and stoking fears among parents, potentially undermining progress in reaching all children with vaccines. For example, global cases of measles have surged to alarmingly high levels in 2019, including in countries which had previously been declared measles free.
Comments
Post a Comment
If you are a member of XUNICEF, you can comment directly on a post. Or, send your comments to us at xunicef.news.views@gmail.com and we will publish them for you.