Jamaica has won the Henry C. Smith Award for the most improved immunisation coverage in 2023. The award was announced at the 38th Caribbean Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Managers’ meeting held in St Kitts and Nevis recently.

In a media release, Dr Julia Rowe-Porter, Jamaica’s EPI manager and director of Family Health Services in the Ministry of Health & Wellness, said:“This award is evidence that our immunisation team at all levels – facility, parish, regional and national – are committed, resilient and focused on achieving our target for 95 per cent vaccination coverage, with a phenomenal post-pandemic recovery. There is still much work to be done to combat the growing threat of vaccine hesitancy. We are grateful for the ongoing technical cooperation and support received from all our partners, especially the Pan American Health Organization, as Jamaica seeks to maintain the gains of this high priority programme,” she shared.

The EPI managers meeting was held from October 28-30, under the theme, “Stronger Together: Advancing Immunisation, Eliminating Disease”, and culminated with a communications workshop. Pan American Health Organization adviser on immunisation, Dr Karen Broome, noted that while the post-pandemic road has been difficult, significant strides have been made. “The investments we’ve made in risk communication and community engagement are starting to pay off. We’re connecting better with the public, especially the most vulnerable, and building the trust we need to carry this work forward. Because, as we all know, without the trust of the community, we cannot do our work effectively. Rebuilding that trust is a process, and it’s one we must approach with patience and effective communication,” she said.

During the opening ceremony, PAHO’s Assistant Director, Dr Rhonda Sealy, commended the Caribbean Immunization managers for beginning to turn vaccination coverage around. “Notably, Polio 3 coverage improved from 90 per cent in 2021 to 93 per cent in 2022, with even more progress in 2023, where we nearly reached the global target of 95 per cent, achieving 94 per cent. The gains in MMR vaccinations are also encouraging… These achievements reflect the hard work of our National Expanded Program on Immunization and the unwavering support of our health ministers,” Dr Sealy noted.

Th release noted that in 2023, Jamaica’s immunisation coverage for the vaccines given to infants under one year of age (BCG, polio, Pentavalent) increased to over 99 per cent post-pandemic, with improvements in MMR given in the second year of life (92 per cent and 89 per cent for first and second doses, respectively).