How We Can Strengthen Vaccination Programs and Build Vaccine Confidence Together
Two Merck leaders share how their company is working to help protect communities from vaccine-preventable illnessesNORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 28, 2024 / Vaccines are one of the most significant public health achievements in modern history, …
Two Merck leaders share how their company is working to help protect communities from vaccine-preventable illnesses
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 28, 2024 / Vaccines are one of the most significant public health achievements in modern history, playing a vital role in helping to prevent certain infectious diseases and protect communities across the globe.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic brought forth a new set of challenges in sustaining vaccination efforts for other preventable diseases - highlighting existing disparities and inequalities in access to health care and underscoring the urgent need for action.
In two op-eds for Devex, an independent news organization covering global development, Drew Otoo, Pharm.D., president of global vaccines, Merck, and Alfred Saah, M.D., executive director of scientific affairs, Merck, highlighted some of the ways the company is working to address these challenges at the global, national and local levels.
Collaborating to help increase health equity
Otoo said collaboration across sectors is key to building trust, enabling equity and establishing stronger, more resilient vaccination programs.
"Now more than ever, we have an opportunity to evaluate and strengthen our approach… Together, we can help create a more equitable future where vaccines are available to and accepted by all who can benefit from them."
- Drew Otoo, Pharm.D.
President of global vaccines, Merck
Otoo shared examples of Merck's work with local and global stakeholders to develop tailored approaches to improve vaccine confidence and supply vaccines for communities that might otherwise be without them:
- Local organizations and community leaders have a deep understanding of the issues contributing to inequities and low routine vaccination rates in their communities, and they're essential to identifying and executing solutions. We know this to be the case from our efforts through ImmUNITY Chicago, an initiative we helped catalyze with local stakeholders to address lower vaccination rates among neighborhoods in the Southwest Side of Chicago, predominantly among communities of color.
- Strategic global collaborations are also critical to enabling stronger, more sustainable vaccination programs. We work with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance - a global alliance that has helped to vaccinate nearly half of the world's children in low-income countries.
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