We Want to Strongly Reiterate the Importance of Vaccination

Recent international data show a renewed upward trend in serious, severe and potentially fatal diseases such as measles and meningitis. Reports of rising measles cases in parts of Turkey, and of meningitis cases in university settings and dormitories in the United Kingdom, show that these diseases still pose a global threat.

Vaccines are one of modern medicine's greatest achievements. Thanks to vaccines, many childhood diseases that once caused high mortality have either been completely eradicated or brought under control and made very rare. However, declining vaccination rates are weakening this hard-won protection and creating the conditions for preventable diseases to spread again.

As pediatricians under the Cyprus Turkish Pediatric Association, we want to clearly emphasise that vaccines provide not only individual protection but also community immunity, helping to protect those who cannot yet be vaccinated or who are in risk groups. Measles and meningitis are vaccine-preventable diseases, and in unvaccinated children they can run a severe course, leading to serious complications, permanent damage and death.

We therefore invite all families and parents to ensure their children's vaccinations are completed fully and on time, in line with the vaccination schedule appropriate to their age. It is also important to consult a pediatrician about the rotavirus and meningitis vaccines, which are not part of the national schedule but protect children against significant diseases.

The scientific evidence is clear: an unvaccinated child puts not only their own health at risk, but public health as well. It must not be forgotten that vaccination is the most effective, most reliable and scientifically proven way to secure our children's healthy future.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Dr. Ayşe Sayılı Erenel, MD.
Secretary General