10 Windows to the World: Iberia Boosts Child Survival Rates with UNICEF Spain through Vaccination Programmes

On the occasion of World Vaccination Week, we travel around the world through the eyes of boys and girls for whom immunisation is vital for their health and development.

Within the framework of World Vaccination Week, we travel the world along with UNICEF Spain through the eyes of children like Rafia, Zachariah, Iman and Gentille, for whom vaccination is vital for their survival, health, and development. A total of 10 stories that commemorate the 10th anniversary of the partnership between Iberia and UNICEF Spain, a decade in which, thanks to the support of our passengers and employees, we have supported childhood immunisation in 9 countries on three continents, contributing to the vaccination of more than 1.3 million boys and girls.

STORY 1 – ANGOLA. Malena, 10 months old

 
On 30 March 2023, Francesca Da Silva, a 30-year-old blind woman, holds her 10-month-old daughter Malena in her arms after returning home from vaccinating her at a mobile vaccination post in the Macuia quarter, in Luanda.

Francesca's daughter was a zero-dose child, which means that she had not received a single dose of vaccine since her birth.

STORY 2 – AFGHANISTAN. Rafia, 5 years old

 
Rafia (on the left, in yellow), 5 years old, has just received the polio vaccine and vitamin A supplements in Karokh district, Herat province.

Just two drops of oral polio vaccine, administered in four doses, immunise a child against polio for life.

 

STORY 3 – NIGERIA. Zachariah, One and a half years old

On 21 June 2022, Zachariah Dimayin, 18 months old, in the arms of his mother, Naomi Akinbami, outside their home in Iwaya, a densely populated area of Lagos, Nigeria. At the beginning of the year, Zachariah contracted measles. It was the only case identified in the area. Naomi took him for treatment, he recovered, and was subsequently vaccinated.

In 2021, Naomi's mother-in-law had prevented her from taking Zachariah to the health centre to complete his vaccination schedule. He did not return to the hospital for subsequent vaccinations until February 2022, when he contracted a serious measles infection.

 

STORY 4 – NIGERIA. Toluwalase, 3 years old

On 23 June 2022, Victoria Aina, 66, holds her granddaughter, Toluwalase, 3, until recently a zero-dose child, outside her home in Ajeromi, in the Ajegunle Local Government Area in Lagos, Nigeria.

Toluwalase was only seven months old when she was placed in her grandmother's custody. Victoria doesn't know for sure whether Toluwalase was born in a hospital or received vital vaccines at birth. “Her mother is gone," says Victoria. "But I know she missed her nine-month dose. At that time she was already living with me.”

Toluwalase was one of the zero-dose children affected by the recent measles outbreak in Lagos. She recovered quickly at the health centre, where she received free treatment.

STORY 5 – PAKISTAN. Iman, 4 years old

On 22 November 2022, in Karachi, Pakistan, Iman, 4, poses for UNICEF after receiving a dose of polio vaccine.

His grandmother, Halima, was strongly opposed to polio vaccines in the past because she thought they were unsafe, and rejected all attempts by polio workers to vaccinate Iman and her sister. However, a persistent polio worker, also from the Pashtun community, helped change Halima's mind about vaccines.

STORY 6 – PAKISTAN. Muhammad, 6 months old

On 5 April 2023 in Malir, Sindh province, Pakistan, Madeeha Jehanzeb, holds her 6-month-old son, Muhammad Hamdan, while he is vaccinated at a mobile vaccination unit.

STORY 7 – DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Gentille, 8 years old

Gentille, an 8-year-old cholera survivor, plays with her friends at the Kizimba displaced people centre in Sake, North Kivu province, DR Congo, on 12 January 2024.
Shortly after arriving in Sake with her family, Gentille contracted cholera. Thanks to the prompt care received at the UNICEF-supported Safya Sake Cholera Treatment Centre, Gentille recovered after six days.

 

STORY 8 – DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Pascaline, 3 years old

 Pascaline, 3, shows her finger, which has been marked after being vaccinated against polio at the Bulengo displaced people centre in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on 11 August 2023.

STORY 9 – SOUTH SUDAN. Guock, 6 years old

On 22 August 2018, in Rumbek, South Sudan: Guock, 6, in the middle, with his brother Italy Deng, 4, right, and Dhalbeny, 3, left.

In June they all contracted measles. "I was crying and screaming. My stomach hurt and I was very hot. I had never felt like this," Guock says. He doesn't remember much other than the pain. His father, Dok Chok, explains: "He had a fever and was scratching his rash. I tried to make him more comfortable by giving him cold baths. When that didn't work, I took him to the clinic, where they helped us." All the boys eventually recovered. "Guock, if I told you that a little jab could have prevented you from getting sick, what do you think about that?" "I've been vaccinated before, and it hurts. But if it protects me, so it's good."

 

STORY 10 – YEMEN. Salma

Salma Bakil, who has Down syndrome, received vaccines against measles and polio during the immunisation campaign supported by UNICEF in the Community College camp for internally displaced people in Marib City, Yemen, in November 2021.