UNICEF wins Oswaldo Cruz Medal of Merit for its immunization work in Brazil : Youssouf Abdel-Jelil

While immunization may appear as the sole business of health authorities, it requires a collective inter-sectoral coordination work with families and other vital sectors. This is illustrated by the story of three-year old Zoé Damasceno, who lives with her mother and father in a city in the interior of the state of Pará, in the Amazon region of Brazil. Although her parents are fully aware of the importance of vaccination, their occupations did not allow them to complete her COVID-19 vaccination schedule. In a multi-sectoral effort to revitalize vaccination, her school staff identified that she and other children had missed doses and partnered with local health workers to vaccinate her and schoolmates.

This result was made possible through the Busca Ativa Vacinal, a multi-sectoral initiative of UNICEF Brazil that supports over 2,000 municipalities in identifying, monitoring, and vaccinating children with zero or delayed doses. Stories like Zoé’s are a testimony to our continuous immunization efforts with public partners in Brazil.

This work, in fact, was formally recognized on by the Brazilian Government on 11 September through the Oswaldo Cruz Merit Medal award in the gold category.

 

The medal is the country’s most important recognition dedicated to reward individuals and institutions that have contributed to promoting the health of Brazilians. It is named after Oswaldo Cruz, a Brazilian physician, bacteriologist, and public health expert, recognized for his contributions to public health, especially through the development of vaccines and serums against diseases like yellow fever and the bubonic plague. Besides UNICEF, the Medal was awarded to twenty-two individuals and nine other organizations, including the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO).

 

Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, the Representative of UNICEF in Brazil received the medal accepted the medal on behalf of UNICEF during an official ceremony held at the Presidential Palace of Planalto in Brasilia.

 

“We are very happy and honored to receive this medal alongside important partners who have been working to ensure the health and well-being of every child and adolescent in Brazil,” said Youssouf. “Immunizing girls and boys is an act of love as well as a public commitment to human rights. UNICEF, more than ever, remains steadfast in this commitment and ready to support governments in fulfilling it.”

 

In alignment with Global Advocacy Priorities, one of UNICEF's priorities in Brazil is strengthening child and adolescent immunization. Towards this end, we work with municipal, state, and federal governments, civil society, the private sector, families, and young people to ensure that every child has the right to fully develop and grow up healthy, promoting immunization through advocacy efforts, technical assistance, health campaigns and more.

Immunization in Brazil

Since 2015, vaccine coverage in Brazil – which had been kept at high rates for decades – began dropping. This situation worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. But recent data published by UNICEF and by the World Health Organization (WHO) show that Brazil has advanced in promoting immunization.

This resulted in Brazil dropping from the list of the twenty countries with the most zero-doze children, where it ranked seventh just two years earlier.

 

UNICEF in Brazil will continue to advocate for further action to ensure that no child or adolescent is left behind, unable to access life-saving vaccines.

 

"It is essential that vaccines reach children, adolescents, and their families where they are,” says Luciana Phebo, Chief of Health, and Nutrition in UNICEF Brazil. “That is why we believe it is necessary to go beyond the walls of health units and encourage vaccination in schools, daycare centers, other public services, and even in their own communities and community spaces, so no child or adolescent is left behind."

Pictures:

1- President Lula and the Minister of Health Nísia Trindade award the Oswaldo Cruz medal to UNICEF’s representative in Brazil, Youssouf Adbel-Jelil

2- UNICEF’s team in Brazil with the Minister of Health Nísia Trindade

3- The Oswaldo Cruz merit medal, in detail