Government & Politics

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Panama City, Panama--(HISPANIC PR WIRE)--April 23, 2007--On behalf of the ALAS Foundation and before more than 1,000 people, performer Ricardo Montaner kicked off the Vaccination Week in the Americas (Semana de la Vacunación en las Américas) when he vaccinated a baby who was barely two months old and said during a speech, “How come diseases like rubella, measles and yellow fever continue to claim lives, if this can be prevented? This is a first step for the ALA VIDA program, with which our foundation backs an ambitious immunization program in Haiti, which has an extremely low immunization rate.”

The event took place on Saturday, April 21, at Triple Frontera, where the Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil borders converge. Vaccination Week is an initiative of the Panamerican Health Organization, whose goal is to immunize 55 million people throughout Latin America. To achieve it, PAHO hopes to get governments to commit to increase and improve routine coverage for immunization, and to promote awareness about new and effective vaccines that can save lives and prevent disease.

With this backdrop, Ricardo Montaner also met last Friday with the First Lady of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, in Casa de Gobierno. During the gathering, the Argentinean-Venezuelan singer asked Fernández de Kirchner, who is also a senator of her country, to be a “watchdog” during the immunization campaign. “Simply by following up by phone and showing your interest in this initiative, you can ensure that all Argentinean children get the necessary shots to avoid death or serious diseases,” Montaner said. He added: “To be able to offer all Latin American children a healthy life, we need a true commitment from governments.”

In the main communities along the U.S.-Mexico border, awareness campaigns will intensify to support current immunization efforts.

According to ALAS Foundation, “It is absolutely possible to guarantee the immunization of every child in the region, and the idea is to continue our efforts until not a single child without shots remains in our countries.”

The ALAS Foundation is committing to cooperate with PAHO and is taking a first step with its ALA VIDA program, which seeks to improve health and nutritional conditions throughout Latin America among pregnant women and children, from newborns to 5-year-olds.

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