PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Lions Club of Sint Maarten will be having their 11thannual Health & Wellness Fair on Saturday, March 30.
The Collective Preventive Services (CPS), a department in the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA), will be having a booth at the fair and parents/guardians are invited to bring their child(ren) to have their vaccination status checked to see if it’s up to date.
The Lions Health & Wellness Fair will take place at the Festival Village from 9.00AM to 4.00PM. The fair is free of charge.
Parents/guardians are requested to bring along with them their child(ren) vaccination record/book. At the CPS booth the child(ren) will receive the necessary vaccinations and their status will be updated in the national registration system; will enable CPS staff to register the vaccinations that your child(ren) received elsewhere; and will allow parents/guardians to receive information about what kind of vaccinations are provided by the Sint Maarten national program.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported multiple countries have been experiencing severe and protracted outbreaks of measles. Because of gaps in vaccination coverage in various regions around the world, measles outbreaks occurred in all regions.
In early March, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in its most recent ‘Epidemiology Update Measles,’ 10 countries in the Americas Region have reported confirmed cases occurring between December 2018 and February 2019.
These countries are: Argentina, The Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, the United States of America, and Venezuela. No fatal cases up to March 4 have been reported in 2019.
In 2018, there were 12 countries in the Region of the Americas that reported confirmed measles cases, and two of these countries reported fatal cases, namely Brazil and Venezuela.
CPS surveillance system has been on alert for suspected cases from the sub-Region and any country from Europe where there is an outbreak of measles.
Measles is a highly contagious virus that can cause potentially serious illness. As measles remains endemic in most parts of the world, it can spread to any country, including those that have eliminated the disease.
Immunization averts an estimated two-three million deaths every year, protecting children from diphtheria, measles, pertussis (better known as whooping cough), pneumonia, polio, rotavirus diarrhea, rubella, tetanus and others.
Vaccines help your immune system fight more than 20 dangerous diseases. From the time we’re born, vaccines offer protection to help individuals stay healthy throughout their entire lives.
Evidence continues to show that vaccination is one of the safest, most cost-effective ways to prevent diseases and death.
For more information call CPS at 542-3003 or 542-3553.
