PHA Launches World Immunisation Week Poster Competition

The Public Health Agency (PHA) has announced a new digital creator and poster competition for aspiring creatives from primary pupils to college/university students, to mark this year’s World Immunisation Week.

World Immunisation Week is celebrated on 24-30 April 2024 and aims to highlight the collective action needed to improve vaccination uptake and promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease.

Immunisation is the safest and most effective way of protecting against serious diseases. Many childhood diseases that were common here prior to the introduction of vaccination have been dramatically reduced or have disappeared altogether. However, unless vaccine uptake remains high in Northern Ireland, many deadly diseases may make a return, with significant consequences.

Louise Flanagan, Consultant in Public Health at the PHA, said: "We unfortunately have seen a decline in uptake in some vaccines in recent years putting people’s lives at risk. Getting vaccinated is the single most important thing we can do to protect your health. Vaccination starts before birth with pregnant women being offered vaccines to protect them and their unborn babies and continues after the baby is born though their pre-school years, teenage years and then as an older adult.

"Through our World Immunisation Week competition, we want to engage young people in the vaccination conversation and make them think about the vital role vaccines play in protecting our society."

• Digital creator competition The digital creator competition is aimed at pupils in Year 10, up to college/university level students.

Young people are being asked to produce a short video that will be used for social media. These can be videos or animation, and can be verbal (including subtitles) or non-verbal.

There are two project briefs to choose from. The first covers childhood immunisations with a focus on highlighting the danger of measles and promoting the MMR vaccination. The second is on the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. HPV infection is very common with as many as half the population infected with HPV some time in their lives. The HPV vaccine is offered to 12 and 13-year-olds helps to prevent HPV-related cancers from developing.

The closing date is Friday 31 May.

• Poster competition

For younger children the PHA is running a World Immunisation Week poster and colouring competition, it is open to all primary, year 8 and year 9 school aged children in Northern Ireland. The closing date for this competition is Friday 10 May.

The details on both competitions can be found at www.pha.site/PosterCompetition

Ms. Flanagan concluded: "After clean water, vaccination is the most effective public health intervention in the world for saving lives and promoting good health, and therefore one of the most important things that any parent can do is get their child vaccinated and encourage them to continue this throughout their own lifetime."

For further information on immunisations see www.pha.site/immunisation-vaccinations-nidirect