Highest vaccination rate against tuberculosis - 97% recorded in Moldova

Chisinau, May 13 /MOLDPRES/- In the Republic of Moldova, the highest vaccination rate was recorded against tuberculosis - 97%, while for other diseases it is between 84-88%. Health Minister Ala Nemerenco unveiled the data at a national conference attended by over 400 family doctors, pediatricians, public health specialists, epidemiologists, students and resident doctors, decision makers and representatives of international organizations.

Nemerenco said vaccines save millions of people globally every year. "Thanks to the National Immunization Program, about 42 thousand cases of diseases and around 400 deaths are prevented in the Republic of Moldova," she said.

USMF "Nicolae Testemițanu" rector Emil Ceban highlighted the active participation of the University in deepening knowledge in immunization by carrying out clinical studies and research. "University and postgraduate study programs for students and resident doctors include intensive courses on immunoprophylaxis of infectious diseases, carried out within the Departments of Preventive Medicine and Pediatrics, the Department of Family Medicine, as well as at the Departments of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Medical Parasitology", he said.

Programme coordinator at the WHO Country Office in the Republic of Moldova Alexei Ceban said that annually in the country about 5 thousand children are not immunized according to the vaccination schedule. In this context, the WHO has set out to implement together with its partners a global campaign to identify people who have missed vaccination, in order to succeed in reaching the immunization indicators of 2019, recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conference focused on issues such as: news in the 2030 WHO Immunization Agenda; the global situation on morbidity due to vaccine-preventable diseases; the successes and challenges of implementation of the National Immunization Program; vaccination of the population with various chronic diseases (oncological, autoimmune, allergic, neurological, cardiological); the epidemiological situation regarding cervical cancer and prevention by vaccination; the population vaccination in crisis situations; interpersonal communication in immunization; vaccination myths and lies.

National Scientific-Practical Conference Every vaccine dose counts! was organized by the State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemițanu" in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the National Agency for Public Health, the Society of Epidemiologists and Microbiologists of the Republic of Moldova, the Pediatric Society, UNICEF Moldova and the WHO Country Office in Chisinau.

Photo: USMF "Nicolae Testemițanu"