When will we learn? Even through the pandemic, 1.5 million children still die each year of vaccine-preventable diseases. One in five children around the world still lack access to basic vaccines.
Here are the stats:
1) By expanding access to existing vaccines, we can save a child’s life every 20 seconds;
2) For every $1 spent on immunizations, the world sees $54 in economic benefits; and
3) Funding for global vaccine programs is significantly less than 1% of the U.S. federal budget.
The millions of refugees fleeing Ukraine remind us that you never know when people will have to travel and illustrate how connected our world is. Also, the thousands of children leaving their homes still need routine childhood immunizations and reaching them in challenging conditions requires resources.
Please contact Sens. Lee and Romney and also Reps. Owens, Stewart and Moore to tell them you support funding global vaccine programs at the highest levels and hope they do, too. It’s time we all learn!
Lori Harding, South Jordan
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