No Child Too Far: Vaccinations in Rural Communities
April 24, 2020
Immunization is the key to ending vaccine-preventable child deaths and giving children a chance - and the right - to grow up healthy and reach their full potential. However, around the world, many children live in geographically remote areas, where getting access to vaccination programs becomes a challenge.
Such is the case of the Eñepá and Hoti indigenous groups, most of whom live in southern Venezuela. To reach 1,300 children in the community, UNICEF had to arrange a lightplane to mobilize the needed doses of polio, yellow fever, and measles vaccines.
In 2020, UNICEF Venezuela's target is to ensure that over 530,000 children under the age of one are vaccinated against measles.
A lightplane arrives with medical supplies in the community of San José de Kayamá, Bolivar state, Venezuela. [© UNICEF/UNI323799/Pocaterra]
To reach family homes of the the Hoti ethnic group in Southern Venezuela, UNICEF staff must load supplies into a “curiara” dugout canoe and then make the journey upstream. [© UNICEF/UNI323823/Tafuro]
Children from the Hoti ethnic group sit outside the rural outpatient UNICEF medical clinic in San José de Kayamá. [© UNICEF/UNI323825/Pocaterra]
Alejandra Pocaterra, UNICEF Venezuela producer, and Fernando Chonokó, the nurse of the Eñepá ethnic group, chat as they head to the rural outpatient clinic in San José de Kayamá. [© UNICEF/UNI323826/Tafuro]
Men from the Eñepa ethnic group transport vaccines to the rural outpatient clinic. [© UNICEF/UNI323824/Pocaterra]
A child from the Eñepá ethnic group receives a routine immunization shot. [© UNICEF/UNI323805/Pocaterra]
Lujemar, age 10, of the Hoti ethnic group smiles as he shows off where he received his immunization shots. [© UNICEF/UNI323804]
Robertina Puruwana, a nurse from the Eñepá ethnic group, checks health records of children who were immunized at the rural outpatient clinic. [© UNICEF/UNI323800/Pocaterra]
No matter where in the world they are, UNICEF wants to make sure every child has access to life-saving vaccines. Help medical staff keep children healthy and happy.