Tag Archives: Shot@Life

The Key to Saving Lives

The Key to Saving Lives
Shot@Life Champions at the 2019 Summit in Washington,DC

It costs less than forty dollars and is no bigger than your thumb.

 

Sometimes it’s the little things.

 

Those tiny vials of  the COVID-19 vaccine are currently the key to putting an end to the pandemic that has taken so many lives and impacted most others. The annual letter published by Bill and Melinda Gates is Titled The Year Global Health Went Local, and COVID-19 has certainly proven that if a virus exists anywhere in the world, the entire global population is vulnerable. It has also highlighted global inequality in access to health care.

 

I have been advocating for childhood vaccines with the United Nations Foundation Shot@life campaign for nearly ten years, and our message that  “A virus does not need a passport” has never seemed more pertinent. My mother was a polio survivor who passed away before any of my own four children were born. Due to the Polio vaccine, I never had to worry that any of my own children might contract it. I don’t think a mother anywhere in the world should have to worry about losing a child to a disease that a vaccine can easily prevent.   

 

Shot@life is a campaign to educate, connect and empower Americans to advocate for global vaccines. Not only because it is the moral thing to do, but preventing infectious disease overseas, also protects Americans at home.  The goal of Shot@Life is to decrease vaccine-preventable deaths in children around the world so that every child has a chance at a healthy life, no matter where they live.   

Photo Credit : UN Foundation

While we take for granted in the U.S. that our children will not likely die from measles, pneumonia, or a case of diarrhea, sadly, mothers in the poorest countries around the world do not have that luxury. In low-income countries without the healthcare infrastructure we are used to, mothers will walk all day in the hot sun with a baby on their back and a toddler in hand to reach a vaccine clinic. In many cases, it is because they have already lost a child to a vaccine-preventable disease, or know someone who has.

 

Global health makes up less than one percent of the Federal Budget yet is one of the best returns on investment. For less than five dollars per child, vaccines can prevent future disabilities, wage and productivity loss, disease, and treatment costs. As we have seen first hand with COVID-19, disease outbreaks disrupt nations’ economies leading to instability. Saving the lives of children is the right thing to do. Funding global health infrastructure also improves tracking and surveillance systems, supporting global health security and outbreak response to emerging viruses like COVID-19.

Thirty years ago, polio paralyzed over 1,000 kids a day. Today, thanks to the Polio vaccine, the world is nearly polio-free. Health systems initially put in place for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are perfect examples of that return on investment as they have been used to control Ebola outbreaks in West Africa and more recently mobilized in the effort to support the COVID-19 pandemic response.

 

Meanwhile, as the world is focused on pandemic triage, routine childhood vaccination schedules have fallen behind, putting the progress we’ve made at risk. In 2019, measles deaths surged to over 200,000 children due to declining vaccine rates in many countries. The pandemic has only exacerbated the problem over the past year. The measles-rubella vaccine costs less than two dollars per child to protect them for life. 

 

Sometimes it’s the little things.

The 10th anniversary of the Shot@Life Champion Summit this year was held virtually. Our office visits with Senators and Representatives were held over zoom, they looked a bit different than in the past, but our message was the same.

Vaccines save lives, and every child deserves a shot at life.

Our request in FY22 is to fund child immunization budgets for the CDC and USAID that combat polio and measles and support GAVI and UNICEF. Those investments will save the lives of millions of children and prevent future outbreaks of those diseases and strengthen the eventual delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to even the hardest to reach populations.

With Senator Reed and fellow champion Lisa Davis during a past Shot@Life Summit in DC

The COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity to develop more efficient vaccine programs using innovations like barcoding, vaccine registries, digital records, cell phone reminders, and enhanced cold chain and logistic systems. The funding for routine childhood vaccines creates and supports critical distribution infrastructure that will be turned around to deliver COVID-19 vaccines subsequently. The pandemic will only come to an end when the whole world has access to the vaccine. The longer the virus lingers and spreads elsewhere, the more the virus has an opportunity to mutate and set us back to square one. 

 

We are not helpless in this fight to save lives. Let Congress know that you support funding global immunization programs to save the lives of children around the world from vaccine-preventable diseases by signing this petition.  Ultimately this investment will strengthen our own country’s health security system from future emerging viruses.

Check out the Shot@Life website for more information on how to get involved and become an advocate.

 

We can all do our part.  Sometimes it’s the little things that add up to make an impact. 

 

World Polio Day 2017…and Why It Matters

World Polio Day 2017…and Why It Matters

My Mother

Childhood Photo of My Mother

She had one leg shorter than the other.  Not in such a glaringly obvious way that one would immediately notice, but you could tell if you studied her walk or she pointed it out to you, like she did to me when I was little.

I couldn’t fully understand the story as a child, but my mother had contracted Polio when she was around three years old, and almost died.  I remember that part because she had two names.   Mildred was the name she was given at birth, and Goldie was the name she was re-named after she had recovered, as is customary in the case of near death experiences in the Jewish religion.

By the time I was born, the Polio vaccine had been developed and was administered widely to children in the United States.  Polio was nearly eradicated in this country by then, and so the story of my mother’s near death from Polio became to me a long-ago folk tale from her childhood.

Sadly, that has not been the case for the rest of the world.  Sure the numbers have dropped 99.9% since 1988 when there were 350,000 known cases around the world, to the 37 reported cases in 2016.   Still, the fact is, that as long as Polio remains in even one child, children the world over are at risk of contracting the disease.  The victims of the highly infectious Poliomyelitis virus that attacks the nervous system are usually children younger than five years old.

Read the rest of this entry

Inspiring Women: Felisa Hilbert

Inspiring Women: Felisa Hilbert

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“I was introduced to the community of Tetzilquila, a little village in the mountains of Mixtla de Altamirano near Orizaba, Veracruz.  To get there we drove several hours until there was no road, and then we hiked a couple more to get there.  When we got to the top after all that walking, there was nothing there!  I asked where the community was… it was down, another 800 meters, with no clear path marked through giant rocks, vegetation and slippery soil.  Finally, it was there in the bottom that we encountered a community of 40 families who did not speak Spanish – they still spoke the pure language of the Aztecs, called Nahuatl.  Only a few adults spoke Spanish.  Once there I could see the hard conditions they lived in and the poor status of nutrition in both the children and the adults.  Their leader told me through an interpreter that they had to walk many miles to go to the closest little town to buy their needs, but then they had to walk even farther to get basic medical care.   I had the interpreter (who came with us) ask the mothers about their priorities and current problems.   Little by little their shyness disappeared and they started talking one by one.  It was an incredible experience to hear them talk about children getting sick, some diseases the suffered and their needs.  As they spoke more I found that I could understand a lot of what they were saying.  The interpreter was surprised and I was surprised; but I learned from the experience that motherhood is universal and did not need a language to communicate.  I fell in love with this community and knew I found a place to start a clinic.” – Felisa Hilbert

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In honor of World Immunization Week I interviewed my friend Felisa Hilbert whom I met through our work with the United Nations Foundation Shot@Life campaign advocating for global vaccines. Through Shot@Life I have met some of the most incredible people, doing the most amazing things. Her name says it all.  Felisa lights up a room with her enthusiasm and treats everyone she meets with warmth. She has also taken it upon herself to build health clinics in the most far-flung, hard to reach rural villages in Mexico. Through her work she has not only saved lives, but transformed communities. Felisa is another great example of how much one woman can achieve when she puts her mind to it! Among other things, these clinics provide the children of these villages access to life saving vaccines that they otherwise would not have had. Nearly 1/3rd of childhood deaths under the age of five around the world are due to vaccine preventable diseases.  Vaccines save lives. 

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Elizabeth: What was your background before becoming a Shot@Life Champion and builder of rural health clinics?

Felisa: From the moment I moved to US I always volunteered in different organizations wherever we lived.  When my husband (Dan) was transferred with the Army to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and my children started elementary school I volunteered in the local schools for 4 years and later became an ELL bilingual Assistant.  As such, I taught, interpreted and translated for students from many countries in ELL Classes (ELL =English Language Learners) in the Broken Arrow Public Schools for a total of 19 years.

 

E:  What inspired you to become a Shot@Life Champion?

F: I was an RN working on a post-grad psychiatry specialty before I married my husband In Mexico.  During my 4 years of nursing and after I graduated as an RN I volunteered all my free time and participated in Preventive Medicine campaigns.  In these campaigns I worked with teams of doctors and nurses in many vaccines campaigns in impoverish communities.  We also provided and taught basic medical care needed in these remote communities located far away from established medical clinics and basic community health services.  It was there that my love for global health causes was born.  I attended and saw many cases where pain and suffering could be alleviated with basic medical care and immunizations. There were also many sad stories where I felt powerless to save the lives of many precious children.  In early 2011 I was selected by Parenting Magazine for the Mom Congress in Washington DC as a delegate representative from the State of Oklahoma.  This gave me a wonderful opportunity to share my passion for the children’s issues, allowing me to advocate for them in my state at a different level with a bigger audience.  It was there in DC that Mom Congress selected 5 of us to attend the first Shot@life Summit on January 30, 2012 to introduce the new United Nations Foundation Shot@Life campaign.  From the beginning of that summit I knew that this was exactly what I had been looking for, for many years.  Simply put: I believe in the cause!  I saw firsthand what happens to children in poor countries; I already knew that vaccines save lives…  and my nursing background was perfect!

   

E: What made you decide to initiate these clinics in rural Mexico?

F: My experiences as a nurse and 20 months of being a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints in many rural areas in different states of Mexico made me promise myself and want to do more than just humanitarian missions with needed items during summer or spring breaks.  It was not enough to save lives, especially in the many remote and far-away villages.  Children and families were still getting sick and didn’t have access to basic medical care.  I am a woman of faith, so I pray for guidance and a way to do more – and with my nursing background, building a little health clinic was the answer.  While in Washington DC for a conference in the summer 2014, I offered to interpret for some government officials in the delegation from Mexico when I saw their difficulties with the English language.  Later they saw me speak about global health, education and poverty then afterward; we exchanged cards and contact information.  Several months later I received an invitation to go to Mexico and train some of their professionals about global issues, poverty and how to empower the new generation.  I accepted and conducted training seminars in 3 states, one of them in my home state of Veracruz.  As part of the training I asked that we go to the field together where they could show me their nearby communities in need of help.  It was there that I was introduced to the community of Tetzilquila, a little village in the mountains of Mixtla de Altamirano near Orizaba, Veracruz.  To get there we drove several hours until there was no road, and then we hiked a couple more to get there.  When we got to the top after all that walking, there was nothing there!  I asked where the community was… it was down, another 800 meters, with no clear path marked through giant rocks, vegetation and slippery soil.  Finally, it was there in the bottom that we encountered a community of 40 families who did not speak Spanish – they still spoke the pure language of the Aztecs, called Nahuatl.  Only a few adults spoke Spanish.  Once there I could see the hard conditions they lived in and the poor status of nutrition in both the children and the adults.  Their leader told me through an interpreter that they had to walk many miles to go to the closest little town to buy their needs, but then they had to walk even farther to get basic medical care.   I had the interpreter (who came with us) ask the mothers about their priorities and current problems.   Little by little their shyness disappeared and they started talking one by one.  It was an incredible experience to hear them talk about children getting sick, some diseases the suffered and their needs.  As they spoke more I found that I could understand a lot of what they were saying.  The interpreter was surprised and I was surprised; but I learned from the experience that motherhood is universal and did not need a language to communicate.  I fell in love with this community and knew I found a place to start a clinic. 

 

E:  Did you ever think it was not possible?

F: Not ever!  I am an eternal optimist!  I knew that it would require a lot of sacrifices, but if I worked very hard – and with and through these people – it would happen.  In the past I had done other projects, so I was prepared to work very hard to make it happen.  To fund the construction of the clinic I went into an intense fund-raising mode for the following year.  During this time I sold my own jewelry, unneeded possessions of value around the house, did a yard sale and a restaurant night fundraiser, sold 500 Mexican tamales.  Also 3 years ago I started to make Jewelry for sale and put my Facebook page Jewelry with a Purpose with all the profits going to the clinic and Shot@life or African school children.

 

E: Were you ever in fear of your safety?

F: No, I have traveled and served in many communities all of my adult life and I have only found kindness, gratefulness and love from the people I have served and loved.  The Tetzilquila community adopted me in their community and I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve them.

 

E: How have the communities responded to the clinics?

F: The response was incredible from the beginning.  My personal goal is always to empower communities I serve and to involve them as part of the planning and solutions by making them partners in the effort.  Their response has been very enthusiastic through the meetings and planning, especially as they realize their integral role in the decision-making process.  They signed a commitment to provide the actual labor once I raised the funds necessary to purchase the construction materials.  In so doing the have been 100% partners in the effort – and their pride shows!  For example, it was like a community holiday when the material arrived and everyone showed up to hand-carry everything in to the construction site.  Remember my description of the trip there… yes, they enthusiastically and almost joyfully hand-carried everything in! It was even a more joyful community celebration when we finally inaugurated the clinic.  Now other communities had heard about it and are eager to do the same thing for themselves.  Right now I have 2 others in the initial planning stages for their own clinics.  This is so exciting!

 

E:  What changes have you seen as a result?

F: Besides the enthusiasm we’ve witnessed in seeing the community come together, there has been the obvious benefit to their healthcare.  On September the 1st, 2016 we attended 120 patients the first day of operation.  The medical team and I gave vaccines shots for measles & polio, fluids & parasite purges and give consult to adults.  Since that day a doctor and nurse (or student nurses) come to the clinic to attend patients on a weekly basis.  It has been interesting to watch the community become self-actuating and empowered in other areas of need.  They are learning to advocate for themselves with area governments and now we are working to open a road through the mountains; with the help of World Vision Mexico they have constructed 20 tanks to collect rain water; and with the help of the local National Action Party (PAN) has constructed several new tiny one room concrete homes. 

 

E:  How do you see them becoming sustainable?

F: In watching them in the other projects I just described, one can see how they are taking ownership of their situation & its solutions – and are learning that they have rights and can use them.  We are teaching them everything that they need to know to be a healthy community.  They knew from the beginning that this was their clinic and that they will have to take care of it.

 

E: Where do your supplies come from?

F: From all the fundraisers I mentioned above: my “Jewelry with a Purpose” sales, and from individual donations from friends and family.  Donations and ideas are always welcome!

 

E:  Have you partnered with any other organizations?

F: I have partnered with the Veracruz regional leaders of World Vision Mexico.  This project started because of the training seminars I taught for them.  Since then they have been a key part of supervising the work when I have been absent, providing interpreters and a driver to accompany me during my visits.  In my end I have trained all their personnel about how to help communities survive, social promotion, the language of communication with people of different cultures, social empowerment, etc.

 

E:  What’s next for you?

F: I’m still putting the finishing touches on the Tetzilquila clinic.  I still need some items like a scale, 20 chairs and an exam room.  This February (2017), the community of Xometla opened their own clinic based on what we did in Tetzilquila.  They also need all the furniture and basic furnishings.  These communities are amazing!  I will be busy working and finding resources to keep helping and empowering them and other communities – and make sure that their children their will go to school and grow healthy and free of childhood diseases.

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Felisa you are such an inspiration to me! 

Follow Felisa on Twitter  and Instagram to keep up with her projects.

What Is A Twitter Takeover ?

What Is A Twitter Takeover ?

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Sounds pretty dramatic, right?!? A Twitter Takeover is kind of dramatic, but it’s not about illegal hacking. A Twitter Takeover is when a brand or organization hands over their twitter account to a new voice to run temporarily. It may be a celebrity, spokesperson, or in our case for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization this week…. a bunch of moms…I mean social media influencers!  Twitter takeovers have become a great way for brands and organizations to increase engagement and reach audience populations they might not already have access to. They nurture a feeling of authenticity, and bring in fresh voices to followers.

That is where our group of writers, digital media producers, travelers, moms, and advocates come in. We deeply believe that all children should have global access to lifesaving vaccines.  I know you are still wondering WHY GAVI would let us takeover the @vaccines twitter account. Collectively between us we have nearly 44,000 followers comprised, in part, of many other moms who also care about child health, but who may not already follow the @vaccines twitter handle. This is an important demographic to reach on the topic of global vaccines because as long as a virus is a threat anywhere in the world, it is a threat to all of us.  We have the vaccines to prevent some of the most threatening diseases, but they only work if they are delivered. Our Twitter Takeover team of UN Foundation Shot@Life Champion Leaders is made up of myself, Nicolette Springer, Nicole Morgan, and Ilina Ewen. We were asked by GAVI to takeover the account to tweet from the Social Good Summit and UNGA, which are both taking place in NYC this week.  Our goal is to help spread the message that Vaccines Work. No mother should lose her child due to a vaccine preventable disease when we have the life saving vaccines available. All children deserve a shot at life. Read the rest of this entry

When Moms + Social Good Come Together

When Moms + Social Good Come Together

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The first week of May I was in New York City for the 4th annual Moms + Social Good conference at the New York Times Center.  When Moms + Social Good come together, great things are bound to happen.  I gathered there with some of my “tribe”, like-minded friends from World Moms Blog, the United Nations Shot@Life campaign, and the Social Good world.  The one day event was hosted by The United Nations Foundation and Johnson & Johnson, with support from BabyCenter, Global Citizen, Fatherly, and Charity Miles. The goal of the Moms + Social event, in honor of Mother’s Day, was to highlight some of the greatest challenges women and children across the globe are facing today.

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The buzz word that came up in almost every panel and topic of conversation, whether the discussion was on the refugee crisis or the importance of global vaccines, was EDUCATION. The importance of education to rise above any circumstance was underlined again and again.

“For refugees we need to focus on quality #education for girls and women.”- Mari Malek

Mari Malek, Model/DJ/Advocate/Founder Stand4Education and former refugee

Mari Malek, Model/DJ/Advocate/Founder Stand4Education and former refugee

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 Save The Children usually conducts a State of the World’s Mother’s Report released around U.S. Mother’s Day, but the surprising statistics on maternal and child health in the USA in last year’s global report (The US ranked number 33 worldwide) inspired the compilation this year of The Shriver Report Snapshot: Insight Into The Resilient American Mother instead. The Save The Children special report was especially impactful to us as moms in the USA. The study polled 1000 mothers in the United States of various backgrounds. The findings were surprising.

  • Overall 85% of American mothers polled think that the US is becoming a worse place to raise a child.
  • Despite this alarming finding, almost all moms, also said they are optimistic about their future and their children’s future.
  • 6 in 10 said that the US business culture makes it “nearly impossible” to balance work and family.
  • The top stressors for American moms were bills and expenses.
  • American moms are conflicted whether technology and social media do more good than harm for their children.
  • When it comes to helping kids, American mothers overwhelmingly want the next president to focus on education.

World Moms Blog Founder, Jennifer Burden had the opportunity to interview Save The Children CEO Carolyn Miles about the report. (go to World Moms Blog to find the interview soon!)

World Moms Blog Founder, Jennifer Burden, interviews Carolyn Miles, CEO of Save the Children at the Moms + SocialGood event in NYC on May 5th, 2016.

World Moms Blog Founder, Jennifer Burden, interviews Carolyn Miles, CEO of Save the Children at the Moms + SocialGood event in NYC on May 5th, 2016.

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Gene Gurkoff and Elizabeth Atalay

Gene Gurkoff and Elizabeth Atalay

I first met Gene Gurkoff,, Founder and CEO of Charity Miles, three years ago at Moms + Social Good. Charity Miles is an app that lets you donate to the charity of your choice when you work out, and I’ve been logging in my Charity Miles ever since.  In the mean time it had been exciting to watch his company grow and do more and more good in the world each year.

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US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power led a panel where she spoke about working hard to take out Boko Haram, and the importance of education.  Just last month, Ambassador Powers was in Abuja, Nigeria visiting with the mothers of the Chibok Girls. There, she met fellow World Moms Blog contributor, Aisha Yesufu, at the sit in, and World Moms Blog Founder was excited to get the opportunity to tell her about the connection to Aisha, and our support for the moms in Chibok! 

US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power with Jennifer Burden, Founder and CEO of World Moms Blog, at Moms + SocialGood in NYC May 5th, 2016.

US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power with Jennifer Burden, Founder and CEO of World Moms Blog, at Moms + SocialGood in NYC May 5th, 2016.

 

Ambassador Power a few weeks earlier in Abuja Nigeria side by side with World Mom, Aisha Yesufu! 

2016 Aisha Yesufu and Ambassador Power 600

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As good friend and fellow Shot@Life Champion Leader Ilina Ewen said on her panel, From local to global challenges: Focus on the whole child, “The sisterhood of motherhood is universal”. This is what keeps me coming back to Moms + Social each year. I believe in the power of mothers when we come together for a better future for not jus our own children, but for all the children of the world.

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Photo credit of Aisha and Ambassador Power to Aisha Yesufu.