Luxembourg's Ministry of Health announced an awareness campaign under the theme "A long life for all" during the European Vaccination Week of the World Health Organization (WHO) taking place from 25 April to 1 May 2022.
The objective is to raise awareness of the challenges of vaccination among the general public and health professionals.
It remains essential to communicate on the importance of vaccines. According to Minister of Health, Paulette Lenert: "these have played a historic role in improving public health, and their effects over the past two centuries have helped to stem global epidemics, such as smallpox or cholera from the 19th century, yellow fever and influenza since the first half of the 20th century, or even more recently childhood diseases such as rubella, measles and mumps since the 1960s. Today, the pandemic linked to COVID-19 shows again the importance of the role of vaccines for the health of the population and for our health system”.
Minister Lenert also reminded everyone to regularly check their vaccination status, and if necessary to make an appointment with their general practitioner to update their vaccinations.
The vaccination status can be checked on the yellow vaccination card or on the electronic vaccination record online via: https://www.esante.lu/portal/fr/infos-e-sante/services-esante-pour-les-patients-187-457.html. This new vaccine registration system will be presented during European Vaccination Week. “Vaccination ambassadors”, professionals from the health sector, will be present in their workplace to help explain what the electronic vaccination record is and can give recommendations.
Finally, messages to remind people of the importance of vaccination as a whole will be broadcast throughout this week.
As a result, as the WHO points out, “for more than two centuries, vaccines have helped make the world a safer place – from the very first vaccine developed to protect against smallpox, to the newest mRNA vaccines used to prevent severe cases of COVID-19. Vaccines protect us as individuals, and help protect each other as members of the global community. In 2022, European Immunisation Week is placed under the theme of 'A long life for all'. It aims to reinforce the importance of ensuring equitable and expanded access to vaccines so that everyone can enjoy a long, healthy life”.
Created in 2005 by the WHO, European Vaccination Week will take place in nearly 200 countries in 2022.
