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January 2023

Champion Spotlight: Ilina Ewen

Ilina Ewen is a longtime Shot@Life advocate who calls herself an “OG Champion.” She wears many hats — advocate, writer, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, mom, and Shot@Life Champion.

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January 2023

Happy Birthday, FDR – A Celebration and Reminder

On the 141st anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's birth, UN Foundation's Peter Yeo reflects on his life as a polio survivor and his legacy as a leader in that fight.

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January 2023

New Year’s Resolution: Vaccine Advocacy

In this guest blog, nurse and Shot@Life Champion Tricia Souza writes about her New Year's resolution: advocating for vaccine access.

December 2022

Polio Vaccines Protect Children and Families from Hardship

A Shot@Life means every child and every family the best possible opportunity to thrive, without the pain of diseases like polio.

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November 2022

Champion Spotlight: Mariam Bahova

Growing up in the Republic of Guinea and now working in global health, Shot@Life Champion Mariam Bahova has a unique perspective on what access to vaccines means to individuals, communities, and the world.

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November 2022

Mobilize to Immunize 2022 Recap

Shot@Life advocates mobilized policymakers to invest in world immunization programs through the six week advocacy period Mobilize to Immunize this past fall.

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November 2022

Happy Thanksgiving from Shot@Life

The Shot@Life team reflects on what they're thankful for with the Thanksgiving holidays quickly approaching.

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November 2022

Shot@Life Celebrates 10 Years of Get a Shot. Give a Shot.

We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Walgreens and celebrate a landmark tenth consecutive year of the Get a Shot. Give a Shot. ® program to immunize children around the world.

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November 2022

Measles Outbreaks: Your Questions Answered

Measles cases are on the rise around the globe, with the World Health Organization reporting  26 large or disruptive outbreaks of the highly contagious virus this year alone. Here are answers to some questions about measles outbreaks and what is being done to stop them.

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October 2022

What We Are Reading: October Edition

Check out a few of the Shot@Life team’s favorite recent reads about immunizations efforts and global health that we thought you might enjoy, too. 

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September 2022

Advice from Experienced Vaccine Equity Advocates

We reached out to some of our champions and asked them what advice they would share with other advocates to make the most of these advocacy periods, Mobilize to Immunize in the fall and Advocate to Vaccinate in the spring. 

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September 2022

5 Ways Shot@Life Advocates Fundraise to Help Provide Lifesaving Vaccines

See how our champions are campaigning for increased access to immunization through individual fundraising events.

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Polio paralyzed dozens in Madagascar from 2020 to 2023, but nationwide vaccination campaigns led by the government and global health partners paid off; the outbreak was officially declared over in May of this year.
 
For over 30 years, the U.S. was a major health donor in Madagascar. Today, programs that once supported 20,000+ health workers are gone—and with them, critical systems for disease surveillance, data, and vaccine outreach.
 
The fight against polio is anything but easy. And hard-won gains are fragile; now is not the time to turn our backs on global health.
 
Read the full story at the link in our bio.
Even in the face of a government shutdown, our advocacy efforts continue.
 
Congress is continuing discussions around funding levels for the coming Fiscal Year, including for global immunization programs, so it remains crucial that they hear from you, our stellar advocates.
 
Now is the time to act. Fill out our latest petition using at shotatlife.org/petition, and reach out to champions@shotatlife.org if you’re interested in scheduling a meeting with your congressional offices.
 
Stay tuned for more updates on #MobilizetoImmunize.
Vaccinations have saved 17 million lives between 2021 and 2024 alone.

Last week, the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization convened to assess the globe’s commitment to immunization. 

And despite the roadblocks that persist—primarily geopolitical instability and shifting health architectures—there is hope in the fact that a vast majority of parents are strongly supportive of vaccines.
This year’s UN General Assembly felt a little different than year’s past; annual conversations about global health were underpinned by continued uncertainty. But even in the face of these challenges, progress was made in addressing some of the world’s most pressing issues. 
 
From the spotlight on noncommunicable diseases to the push for sustaining our progress against polio, global health was of utmost importance at #UNGA80.
 
Keep reading in our latest blog. #Linkinbio
Hospitals in Bangladesh are overwhelmed as dengue and chikungunya cases surge. 33,800 dengue cases alone this year, paired with the first surge in chikungunya since 2017, are a dual threat pushing health systems to the brink.
 
🦟 Both diseases are spread by the same mosquitoes and share similar symptoms, but treatments are very different. Misdiagnosis can be deadly.
 
Experts warn that overlapping outbreaks are generally becoming more frequent, driven by climate change, urbanization, and global travel.
 
Better surveillance, vaccines against dengue, and year-round mosquito control are crucial to tackle this growing crisis.
For nearly a decade, Rwanda had recorded steady declines in malaria. 

But these gains are now under threat: in 2024 alone, malaria cases in Rwanda rose by more than 45%.

While Rwanda had previously opted out of receiving malaria vaccines during WHO's and Gavi's first distribution phase in 2023, health experts are now reconsidering—immunization could be key to bringing case counts back down.
Pakistan has just received a 13 million-dose supply of the cervical cancer vaccine for its first EVER nationwide immunization drive against HPV, thanks to partners like Gavi and UNICEF.

Now, starting this week, 13 million girls across Pakistan will receive a dose of the HPV vaccine, protecting them from cervical cancer, which still takes the life of one woman every two minutes. 

While executing the immunization drive will be no easy feat, Pakistan is now joining more than 150 countries that have included the WHO-prequalified vaccine in their Immunization schedules, safeguarding the health of future generations.
Just over a week ago, the World Health Organization declared that mpox is no longer classified as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). While global cases have declined since the PHEIC was first declared in 2024, ongoing outbreaks across Africa suggest the crisis is far from over.
 
But after a year of rapid response efforts, Africa is not fighting unprepared.
 
Read more in our latest blog. #linkinbio
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