KUWAIT: Ministry of Health's (MoH) assistant undersecretary for public health affairs Dr Majeda Al-Qattan stressed Kuwait has come a long way in terms of vaccinations, with a 95-99 percent vaccination rate in children below five against polio, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, rubella, mumps, meningitis and hepatitis, which put an end to many pediatric diseases and reduced others by 85-94 percent. But despite the achievements in this field, Qattan said that the number of people hesitant to take the vaccines is increasing worldwide and has affected some countries like the US, where over 110,000 children were diagnosed with measles in 2018. "This hesitation is limited to 1-2 percent in Kuwait," she noted.

Speaking on the occasion of celebrating World Immunization Week marked worldwide in the period of April 24-30, Qattan stressed that this week aims at boosting public awareness about the significance of immunization in various age categories, adding various activities were organized in various areas around Kuwait under the slogan "Protected Together, Vaccines Work" for various age categories. Qattan added that the activities included awareness lectures for both the public and medical staff working in over 70 health facilities, health expos in various hospitals and clinics, distributing brochures and flyers to the public and putting up hundreds of posters and rollups.

Iftar campaign

Kuwait Food Bank (KFB) announced launching the iftar campaign through which it aims, in collaboration with the awqaf secretariat general, to distribute around 120,000 iftar meals during Ramadan. In this regard, KFB Director Salem Al-Hamar said that the campaign will start from the first day of Ramadan in various mosques and labor camps around Kuwait with the help of a large team of well-trained volunteers.

"We already started preparing for the campaign long enough before Ramadan as part of the bank's strategic plan and charity program," Hamar explained, adding that the campaign is part of KFB's social responsibility activities to highlight Islamic regulations and the values of compassion amongst the people of Kuwait. Finally, Hamar invited donors desiring to take part in the campaign to donate online through the bank's website: www.kuwaitfoodbank.org or by visiting KFB's headquarters in Qurtuba.

By Meshaal Al-Enezi