Tech Savvy Mama

Parenting in the Digital Age

Shot at Life: Reducing Childhood Deaths Around the World

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The topic of vaccines is a controversial one in the United States for many reasons but what if you lived in a country that had a high mortality rate for children where access to vaccines would prevent deadly and disabling diseases like polio, pneumonia, measles, and diarrhea?

I spent my Friday night with friends and the United Nation’s Foundations Shot@Life to learn about this new social good call to action which is designed to rally Americans to champion vaccines as one of the most cost-effective ways to save the lives of children in developing countries.  While we sipped prosecco, tasted gelato, and had an array of Italian confections before us, I couldn’t help thinking about the kids I met in Haiti who deserve a shot at their childhood just as much as my own kids do.

70% of all unvaccinated children live in just 10 developing countries that include India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Indonesia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, China, Uganda, Chad and Kenya. For these children, access to vaccines means the difference between life and death. A healthy life or a lifetime of struggle.  

Shot@Life builds on the UN Foundation’s 13-year partnership in global vaccine efforts as a leading partner in the Measles Initiative and Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The children served by this campaign seem a world away but they aren’t much different than the children in our own lives. Imagine if nearly half the children entering kindergarten in the U.S. this year died of preventable disease. That’s how many children die each year in developing countries. 


In honor of the World Health Organization’s World Immunization Week (April 21-28), here are some statistics about why Shot@Life is so important to kids all around the globe:
  • 1 in 5 children do not have access to life-saving vaccines that we in the developed world can so easily take for granted.
  • Every 20 seconds (approximately 1.5 million children each year) a child will die from a preventable disease — too often a disease that could have been prevented by an immunization.
  • For $20 you can protect a child for a life from four diseases.
  • Some moms walk 15 miles to reach life-saving vaccines for their children.
  • Sad and sobering yet there is a way to help every child grow up and have a shot at life. 
Here are 5 easy ways you can help Shot@Life in 15 minutes or less:
  • Spare 15 minutes to learn more about Shot@Life by checking out their website
  • Use 10 minutes to post a status update about Shot@Life, tell Twitter followers about the campaign, and if you’re a blogger, embed a video about Shot@Life on your site.
  • Spend 15 seconds by following Shot@Life on Twitter or liking them on Facebook
  • Take 5 seconds to pledge to speak up for children by adding your voice to the movement of people committed to reducing childhood deaths around the world
  • Donate. Give what you can to invest in a healthier world. $5 protects a child from polio for life, $15 protects a child from pneumonia and diarrhea, and $20 is all it takes to protect a child from polio, pneumonia, measles, and diarrhea for life.

I am sharing this information because I believe Shot@Life can give each child around the world the future they deserve.  I received a goodie bag from the event I attended although was not required to write a post about the information shared.  Images courtesy of the United Nations Foundation and Shot@Life.

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Original post by Tech Savvy Mama
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