With the emergence of new and the re-emergence of old infectious diseases, the health field has come to realize that announcements made a few decades ago that 'humanity was ready to close the book on infectious diseases' were, to say the least, premature.
In light of this, the Vaccines-for-Peace Initiative (VPI) will attempt to augment the vaccine coverage rates in the two communities of Cyprus. Away from political agendas this initiative will strive to bring together health-care professionals to tackle the issue of vaccinations against preventable infectious diseases. The primary component of this initiative will target young children and women of childbearing age. By focusing on these two groups, we can ensure that the future generations of the island will be protected against preventable infectious diseases.
This initiative's vision arose from a need to advance and augment any existing cooperation between the two communities in the health sector. The idea behind VPI will reflect individual and collaborative efforts of health experts and professionals in the two communities and will materialize with the common vision of improving the health of all Cypriots.
Financial support for this initiative will be sought from major pharmaceutical companies and organizations. The project will make absolutely sure that grassroots organizations and individuals interested purely in improving the health of their compatriots through this initiative, without any hidden political agendas, will contribute to the setup and execution of this initiative.
This project is meant to improve the health of Cypriots and we will make sure that it serves that purpose and not taken advantage of in any political arena whatsoever. It is high time that such projects are carried out for their intended purpose away from podium political rhetoric.
I am hereby requesting any and all interested parties to contact me in order to move ahead with this initiative. I am convinced that despite the immense effort that has to be devoted to this, we can bring this initiative to fruition.
Tassos C. Kyriakides, PhD
Infectious Disease Epidemiology/Public Health
Email: tassos@connix.com