“Smile” for immunisation

Nur Awwalia and her Immunisation Wall of Fame. © UNICEF Indonesia/2015

The walls of the Tanah Merah Bangkalan Health Centre on Madura Island in East Java have all the usual posters expected in a health clinic. But one stands out. It’s a plain white board lined with photos of 25 smiling babies.

Each baby has completed their five stages of immunisation – five free immunisation sessions which mean they are safe from diseases including diphtheria, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, tetanus, polio and measles.

A midwife at the centre, Nur Awwalia, recently came up with the idea for the poster. “Every parent likes to show off their baby. So why not use this to promote immunisation!” she says.

Typhoon Haiyan: How UNICEF is responding to children’s health needs

A volunteer measures a child’s upper arm circumference – a gauge of nutritional status
© UNICEF/Dianan Valcarcel Silvela

I have just returned from Tacloban. I am a UNICEF health specialist and travelled there as part of UNICEF’s global support to help colleagues working to restore health systems that protect children in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Yolande).

Even after my return home to Bangkok, I am still awed by the fury of the Typhoon, its massive destruction. I am also struck by the strength and the spirit of the people whose lives it decimated. Among the heaps of debris, there are signs that announce “we will rise again” and “homeless, roofless but not hopeless”.