From October 24 to 31, 2022, this campaign will take place in the countries and territories of the Americas to revitalize the importance of immunization as a public good for universal health. The 24th was World Polio Day, an event that reminds us of the many international recognitions Cuba has received for its vaccination actions.

Let us remember that in Cuba the Immunization Program was created in 1962 as a result of the political, economic and social transformations initiated with the triumph of the Revolution, when communicable diseases -among them those preventable by vaccines- were the main cause of morbidity and mortality in the infant population. We are proud of the fact that the 1962 campaign for oral polio vaccination on the island was the first experience in the Region of the Americas with community and intersectoral participation, and ours was the first country to eliminate the disease.

 The organization and uninterrupted execution of vaccination campaigns here have allowed six diseases, two serious clinical forms and two serious complications to be eliminated, and the remaining ones maintain incidence and mortality rates that do not constitute a health problem.

Annually, an average of 4,800,000 doses of simple or combined vaccines are administered in our country to protect against 13 diseases, including a pentavalent vaccine whose five components are produced in the Greater Antilles.

It should be pointed out that immunization is the process by which a person becomes immune or resistant to an infectious disease, generally through the administration of a vaccine, since these stimulate the body's own immune system in order to protect the person against subsequent infections or diseases.