As children’s health is one of the most important priorities for parents, it is important to ensure timely childhood immunization and adherence to Viet Nam’s national vaccination schedule. All vaccines under Viet Nam’s national Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) are free of charge, without shortage of supply, at commune Health Centers across Viet Nam.
Over the past few months, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have been working closely with Viet Nam’s Ministry of Health to monitor the Measles Rubella (MR) vaccination campaign for all children aged 1-14. The national vaccine monitoring missions have revealed that not all parents/caregivers are getting their children vaccinated, even though MR and other vaccines are readily available at all commune health centers across the country.
By delaying vaccination or failing to follow the recommended national immunization schedule, parents put their children and the broader community at serious risk of disease.
Immunization remains the simplest and most effective way of protecting a child from diseases such as measles, rubella and pertussis. WHO and UNICEF recommend that all parents/caregivers check the immunization status of their children to ensure that their vaccinations are fully up-to-date and to strictly adhere to the national immunization schedule without any delay.
Viet Nam’s national EPI provides 12 life-saving vaccines free of charge to all Vietnamese children. In the last 25 years, vaccines have protected 6.7 million Vietnamese children and prevented 42,000 deaths from deadly childhood diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio. The EPI vaccines are safe and are fully regulated by Viet Nam’s National Regulatory Authority. They have undergone strict quality controls at every step of the manufacturing and supply process. WHO and UNICEF support the National Regulatory Authority by reviewing vaccine clinical data, production processes, manufacturing facilities and testing sample immunization batches.