Vaccines message delivered to Parliament
A YOUNG campaigner from Loughborough travelled to Parliament to deliver a message about the importance of vaccines in the world’s poorest countries.
Juliet Okorafor, from Loughborough, travelled to Westminster for a meeting with Loughborough MP Jane Hunt as a Youth Ambassador for ONE, an anti-poverty organisation.
During the meeting, they discussed how Britain can help make sure that every child in the world is protected against infectious disease.
Juliet highlighted the work of Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, which provides life-saving protection against killer diseases to people in the world’s poorest countries.
Since its creation in 2000, Gavi has supported the immunisation of 760 million children and helped save over 13 million lives.
Juliet asked Jane Hunt MP to back Gavi by pledging to show their support for it in Parliament. According to ONE Campaign’s ‘From Your Town With Love’ website Loughborough has already made a huge impact, by providing 41,560 of vaccines around the world.
Speaking about the day, Juliet said: “It was really exciting to be in Parliament and meet with Jane Hunt. I really feel like I made a difference and she was very supportive of what our country can do to help those in the world’s poorest countries”.
Jane Hunt MP said “It was a pleasure to meet with dedicated youth volunteers, including Juliet from Loughborough. Juliet and her colleagues are working tirelessly to help vaccinate children in the world’s poorest countries against deadly diseases such as polio and measles.
“Their passion and drive will not only make the world a better place, but it makes Loughborough proud.”
As part of the ‘Day of Action’, nearly 100 volunteers from five organisations received training in political campaigning and activism.
Romilly Greenhill, UK Director of The ONE Campaign, said: “Seeing Juliet take their message about global health to Parliament shows how important it is to so many people across the UK.”