Disease prevention is the key to public health. It is always better to prevent a disease than to treat it. Vaccines help prevent infectious diseases and save lives. However in the developing world, viruses and bacteria that cause vaccine-preventable disease and death still exist and are extremely contagious. With people traveling to places around the globe, the incidence of foreign-borne diseases has increased locally. Unless a disease has been completely eliminated there is still a risk of its outbreak. That is why it is crucial for children to receive their routine immunization and for adults to keep their children’s immunization schedules up-to-date.

Immunization also slows down or stops the outbreak of disease. This is a safe and an effective way to provide protection to children against a number of hazardous illnesses. It contains a weakened or dead germ that cannot cause disease. However, it strengthens your child’s immune system by training it to fight off the germs that cause diseases. It does this by exposing the immune system to a calculated amount of germs so as to activate its response without making the child sick. Immunization mimics the actual process of the immune system.

Babies are born with a certain amount of natural protection against diseases, which comes in the form of antibodies they get from their mothers. Antibodies from the mother last about three months. Breastfed babies receive extra antibodies from breast milk. The mother’s antibodies slowly disappear from the babies’ blood stream.

Breast feeding does not protect a baby against most serious illnesses; however, it builds the foundation of a strong immune system and helps protect against diarrhea and vomiting along with cough and cold.

Fortunately, we have access to vaccines that can immunize children against such diseases such as Tuberculosis, Polio, Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, Tetanus, Haemophillus Influenza Type B, Measles, Mumps and Hepatitis B and many more. Vaccines are safe and effective. Countries that have had successful immunization programs have seen a large decline in vaccine preventable diseases. The benefits of immunization far out weigh the risks. There is no reason to suffer from a disease if there is a safe and effective way to prevent it. On the other hand, the diseases that vaccines fight pose serious threats. Diseases such as Polio, Diphtheria, Measles and Whooping Cough can lead to paralysis, pneumonia, choking, brain damage, heart problems and even death in children who are not protected.

Pakistan has the 4th highest number of child deaths among all countries in the world – every year approximately 585,000 children under 5 years of age die in Pakistan1, the sad fact is many of these deaths can be easily prevented.