Vaccinations for Children & Adolescents – Institute of Public Health, ACG

Vaccinations for Children & Adolescents – Institute of Public Health, ACG

An online event about the vaccinations of children and adolescents, was organized by the Institute of Public Health (IPH), The American College of Greece, on Wednesday, November 11, 2020, featuring presentation by Maria Theodoridou, Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens and Chair of the Hellenic National Vaccination Committee, in the context of the 6th Series of Lectures, 2020-2021.

As Prof. Theodoridou presented, approximately two hundred new vaccines are currently being tested while the development of biotechnology in the recent decades has contributed in the prevention of up to three million deaths annually and disabilities in seven hundred fifty thousand children, leading to an extremely significant impact on human health and the quality of life.

Greek National Immunization Schedule

Cases where children are not vaccinated can be attributed to negligence or poor compliance of parents, socio-economic and political conditions e.g. wars, immigration, medical reasons and beliefs. On the other hand, reasons to hesitate vaccination are, according to European data presented, the questioning of safety followed by lack of information, reduced trust in health systems and the infrequent occurrence of serious cases of a disease.

In this context, Prof. Theodoridou explained the imminent risk of rare and forgotten infectious diseases to reappear if the vaccinations on children and adolescents are stopped during the pandemic, while she pointed out that prior to vaccine release, manufacturers’ internal controls and necessary approvals are granted from independent bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the FDA (USA) etc.

Ongoing vigilance and surveillance while the vaccine is circulated on market is a process allowing immediate actions for improvement so as to increase its effectiveness and safety, concluding that proper information and not misinformation is needed.

Find the program of the 6th Series of Lectures, 2020-2021 here

The event’s video (in greek):

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