Lebanon has recently participated in the Global Vaccination Summit on 12 September 2019 in Brussels, Belgium, with a delegation headed by Public Health Minister Jamil Jabak, head of the Primary Health Care and Social Health department Randa Hamadeh, and Lebanese Ambassador to Belgium Fadi Al Hajali.
The summit, which brought together around 400 people from all health sectors, took place under the joint auspices of the European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Its main goal is to propel global action against vaccine-preventable diseases and against the spread of vaccine misinformation.
Lebanon’s participation in the summit came as an affirmation of the Lebanese state’s adoption of all global policies and strategies in support of immunization, not to mention a commitment to protect all children on Lebanese soil via vaccination.
During the Summit, Minister Jamil Jabak confirmed in a statement, “The Ministry of Public Health seeks to maintain Lebanon’s good level of child immunization.” He further stated that the National Vaccination Program at the Ministry of Public Health was working hard to maintain a polio-free Lebanon, with the support of the European Union, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF.
He stressed on “the importance of maintaining Lebanon’s wide vaccination coverage, in cooperation with all partners and through strengthening partnerships between all sectors concerned.”
The one-day event “demonstrated EU leadership for vaccination, boosted political commitment towards eliminating vaccine-preventable diseases, and engaged political leaders and leaders from scientific, medical, industry, philanthropic, digital media, and civil society.”
Lebanon is always trying to keep its children safe and healthy through strengthening routine immunization efforts and encouraging all parents to take advantage of the excellent immunization services provided to them in more than 207 centers across Lebanon.
On August 10, 2017, the Ministry of Public Health announced the acceleration of free Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) provision to all children under 5 in Lebanon.
