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Lions Clubs participate in measles vaccination campaign

Lions Clubs International is participating (LCI) in the ongoing vaccination campaign against measles and rubella throughout the country.

Through the campaign, the LCI, together with the Ministry of Health, the Gavi Alliance , the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and other partners seek to ensure that children are vaccinated to prevent illnesses and deaths.

Lions will also play key roles in social mobilisation efforts by working with local leaders, co-ordinate community-level publicity through the media by creating awareness and serve as volunteers at vaccination centres.

At the national launch of the campaign in Tamale, the Immediate Past District Governor (IPDG) of District 403-A2 of Lions Clubs International, Lion Mrs Gloria Esi Lassey, said LCI and Gavi Alliance, a public-private partnership, entered a unique partnership during the 96th annual convention of the LCI in Hamburg, Germany, recently.

The partnership sought to protect millions of children in the world’s poorest countries against measles, a highly infectious disease that kills an estimated 430 people every day, mostly in developing countries, Lion Lassey announced.

Under the partnership, Lions Clubs, the world’s largest service club organisation, will deploy its network of 1.35 million volunteers to raise US$30 million and to improve access to vaccines through the Gavi Alliance, whose mission is to save children’s lives and protect people’s health by increasing access to immunisation in the world’s poorest countries.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview after the launch, Lion Lassey emphasised that the funds raised by the Lions would be matched by US$30 million from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, bringing the total to US$60 million.

The IPDG said the partnership made Lions Clubs the largest member of the Gavi Matching Fund, which has now secured more than US$145 million in private sector gifts and donor matches, she noted, adding that Lions Clubs is the Matching Fund’s 10th member.

“Teaming up with the vast network of Lions Clubs worldwide will allow Gavi Alliance to immunise more children with the measles-rubella vaccine and ultimately reduce the number of measles deaths and cases of congenital Rubella Syndrome”, she stated.

Lion Lassey noted that recent experience showed that failure to give enough children their first dose of measles vaccination through routine immunisation could result in serious outbreaks. As a result, she said the GAVI-Lions Clubs partnership would focus on support of routine immunisation and strengthening health systems and  more than 700 million children in 49 countries are expected to be immunised against measles and rubella by 2020.

Measles kills about 160,000 people annually, mostly children under age five, she expressed regret, and said through their joint efforts with Gavi and other partners, they will increase access to quality immunisation services at every level, globally, nationally and locally - to benefit children in developing countries.

Lions Clubs International, founded in 1917, has more than 46,000 clubs in 207 countries, impacting communities through service projects. Since 1968, it has awarded more than US$800 million in grants to support humanitarian projects, including anti-measles initiatives.

Since 1917, Lions Clubs have aided the visually impaired, championed youth initiatives and strengthened local communities through hands-on service and humanitarian projects. Lions Clubs International Foundation is the charitable arm of Lions Clubs International.

AVI is funded by governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States, the European Commission, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as private and corporate partners. The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Comic Relief, Dutch Postcode Lottery, His Highness Sheikh Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, JP Morgan, “la Caixa” Foundation, LDS Charities and Vodafone).

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