There is increasing concern over the identification and spread of childhood contagious diseases, such as measles, pertussis, diphtheria and polio in Greece. As pointed out by specialists, such diseases were in fact forgotten thanks to preventive medicine, but the low vaccination coverage nowadays seems to have awakened the old time enemies of health.
In particular, the pandemic of H1N1 in 2009 seems to have made Greeks rather skeptical about vaccinations, while the problem is also intensified due to the economic crisis that has led many families to postpone any vaccination program.
However, according to the Associate Professor of Pediatrics and President of the European Pediatric Association (EPA/UNEPSA), Andreas Konstantopoulos, on the occasion of the European Immunization Week as well as the World Day Against Meningitis (April 24), “vaccinations are the most effective public health interventions and today they are extremely safe. “
According to figures presented by Konstantopoulos, vaccinations prevent approximately 3.5 million deaths, offer approximately 386 million life-years annually on a worldwide level and prevent disability among 750,000 children.
In addition, measles kill 450 children every day throughout the world, given that one out of five children has not been vaccinated against measles.
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