Insights and New Perspectives from Colleague’s Posting

Introduction

The paper has shared some compelling reasons as to why the developing world continues witness deaths of children from vaccine-preventable diseases despite the massive resources that are dedicated to immunization programs. Although the challenges presented in the paper are not all-inclusive, they still provide a glimpse of the problem, which is a start to a long-term solution. Therefore, the discussion raises the question of how the global community can efficiently utilize its resources to extend the benefits of immunization programs, particularly in developing countries. According to Shen, Fields, and McQuestion (2014), one strategy that most countries are using and it seems to be working for them is “achieving ownership of their immunization programs by finding sustainable financing solutions and developing needed institutional innovations.” These authors argued that immunization could reach every child in developing countries if these countries and external partner investments materialized (Shen, Fields, and McQuestion, 2014).

Further information on how the developing countries can utilize their resources efficiently to achieve their immunization goals is provided in the link in the reference section. However, one impediment to immunization from the paper seems challenging to solve-religious beliefs. How does the immunization programs convince parents with certain religious beliefs that vaccination is beneficial to their children? Education of such parents on the benefits of immunization may not always work as some choose not to be educated. Some parents may also refuse to be a part of routine immunizations in their communities. Overally, I think that the article choice was excellent as it contains information based on empirical evidence and it touches on a current problem in health care. However, one question remains unclear from the paper- how will the promise of immunization programs and vaccines be fulfilled in third-world countries?