Global Health Advocacy- A Parent or Nurse? You Need to Be Involved!

This upcoming Monday, I'll be traveling to Washington, D.C., as an invitee to the Shot@Life Champion Summit. I am once again honored and excited to be chosen, and will be meeting and collaborating with Champions from around the world- individuals who are dedicated to making sure every child, no matter where they are born, are given a shot at a healthy life.

But now our efforts (and yours) are more important than ever.

In a two part series over at Vaccine Ambassadors, Nurses Who Vaccinate and Moms Who Vax, guest blogged about the importance of encouraging the public to become vaccine advocates. Nurses Who Vaccinate's post focused on encouraging healthcare workers and Ashley Shelby from Moms Who Vax focused on getting more parents involved with vaccine advocacy.

Ashely wrote, "This generation of American parents are now facing the real possibility that their children could contract the diseases that other parents across the globe have been desperate to protect their own children from." 

In the recent years that statement has become more of a reality to the dismay of public health workers. One only has to check out the news to read about outbreaks of diseases we previously did not have to worry about, popping up around our developed countries. Now, more than ever, it is vital to the health of our communities to educate ourselves as healthcare workers and parents on the importance of vaccinating children, adults and ourselves.

However, we cannot stop at strengthening protection within our community. We need to look beyond our backyards, nursing units, and towns. We need to learn about the African parents struggling to provide vaccine access for their children. We need to find ways and methods to help parents in Pakistan learn about the importance of vaccinating to protect against polio. That child in New Delhi deserves the same opportunities as the child in New York.


How can we do that? 

With the help of these organizations: 

Shot@Life

Voices for Vaccines

Nurses Who Vaccinate

Whether it's talking to a fellow parent who is unsure whether to take their child back for well visits, keeping up to date with vaccination techniques, or wanting to help families in developing countries, these organizations can play an important part in all those activities. As stated in the Mom Who Vax post, we have a responsibility to all children, not just our own, not just our patients, but all children, to provide vaccine access and a shot at life.

Melody Butler, RN- founder of Nurses Who Vaccinate.