This year, Iberia has also joined the UNICEF Spain #PequeñasSoluciones campaign, because big problems often have small solutions. Certain diseases cause thousands of deaths each year, and vaccines – contained in very small, cheap, simple and effective little vials – ensure the survival of boys and girls.

Vaccines are one of the most powerful instruments available in the fight against infant mortality. Just look at the numbers.

Why do vaccinations save lives?

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises vaccination as a basic right of children.

In fact, vaccines save the lives of between two and three million children each year. Together with its partners and other development and humanitarian organisations, UNICEF has been able to reduce infant mortality by 59 per cent over the past three decades.

• Five lives saved every minute of every day.
• 30 per cent of deaths of children under five are from diseases that vaccines can prevent.
• 14 million children still don’t receive any vaccines, many of which are essential for their survival.
• 85 is the percentage at which global immunisation coverage – the number of children receiving the recommended vaccinations – has stalled.
• 80 million children under the age of one are at risk of diseases such as diphtheria, measles and polio.
• 1/4 of all deaths among children under five in 2017 were due to pneumonia, diarrhoea and measles. Most of them could have been prevented by vaccination.

What are the main types of vaccines used by UNICEF?

Together with other organisations, and with the assistance of partners such as Iberia, UNICEF is carrying out child immunisation programmes in more than 100 countries, thus helping children fully enjoy their right to survival and health.

UNICEF is the world’s largest vaccine supplier. In 2019, UNICEF purchased 2.43 billion doses. These were distributed in 99 countries and reached nearly half (45 per cent) of boys and girls aged up to five worldwide.

• 1 billion polio vaccines
• 346 million measles vaccines
• 162 million BCG (tuberculosis) vaccines
• 162 million pneumococcus vaccines
• 159 million five-in-one (DTaP/IPV/Hib) vaccines
• 7 million yellow fever vaccines
• 12 million HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccines
• 2 million meningitis vaccines

What have UNICEF and all its partners achieved to date?

• 2 million children have been saved since 2000 by the measles vaccine.
• 2-3 million children are saved every year from fatal childhood diseases.
• 1/2 of the world’s girls and boys were vaccinated thanks to UNICEF in 2019.
• 5 billion children have been vaccinated since 2000, and the number of polio cases has fallen by more than 99 per cent.
• Thanks to the struggle for universal immunisation, maternal and neonatal tetanus is now endemic in only 12 countries worldwide.

 

When you book your flight at iberia.com, you can make a donation of €3-20, making your trip go even further, specifically to Cuba, where UNICEF is supporting the national immunisation, ensuring that 80 per cent of the children born there receive the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Your help – however modest it might be – can save lives.