Vaccination Trends and Issues and Impact on Society

What Is It All About?

Participants compare and contrast protective public health care and health measures in place to protect populations against infectious diseases and conditions, such as availability and access to vaccinations, medical services, and mental health support. Participants consider how social media may be a powerful tool to advocate for fair and equitable access to protective public health measures in Canada and the larger global community.

Curriculum Connections

1, C1, C3

Why Do It?

Providing participants with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the role of vaccinations in preventable diseases and conditions helps them to become informed global citizens and advocates for access to public health services to protect their health and the health of others.

How Do We Do It?

• Share the following information with participants: All countries worldwide are experiencing significant issues (e.g., social, economic, and political) in attempting to keep their citizens safe and healthy. Consider the following statistics and identify why Canada is better equipped than most countries to support the health of its population.
• Canadians born today will live an average of two years longer than the global average (close to 82 years in Canada versus 80). Meanwhile, 89% of Canadians reported being in good health, 20% above the average worldwide.¹
• Our political and economic stability, solid job market and world-class public education system means our citizens should have the highest sense of well-being in the world.²
• Canada was ranked 5th out of 91 countries for elderly treatment, ahead of Switzerland, New Zealand, and the U.S.³
• Divide participants into groups of 3-4 and provide access to a shared document (chart paper and markers or online interactive tool). Provide groups access to Government of Canada: Diseases and Conditions Preventable with Vaccines to locate information about diseases and conditions that can be prevented using vaccines to protect individual and community health. Have groups list 4-5 diseases and conditions preventable with vaccines.
• Provide groups with access to global public health data from credible sites such as Global Age Watch Index, World Health Organisation Global Health Observatory, or Public Health Canada Health Data. Use a Venn Diagram strategy for groups to complete a Compare and Contrast between Canada and a country of their choice related to the protective public health care and health measure in place to protect population health against infectious diseases and conditions such as availability and access to vaccinations, medical services, mental health supports. Have groups consider factors such as population, geography, income or wealth, and access to education that might impact access to health care measures and services when completing their comparison. Invite groups to share what their investigation revealed about fair and equitable access to protective public health measures in Canada and the country of their choice.
• Consolidate the group activity by drawing attention to inequities citizens might face in accessing medical care and intervention treatments such as access to vaccinations. Remind students that different countries have different types of governments that can always sway medical decisions. Explain to participants that there are pros and cons to using social media to communicate information about vaccines. It can be a source of misinformation and/or influence social justice and advocacy. Have groups consider how they might use social media to combat misinformation about vaccines, highlight the inequities they uncovered through their Compare and Contrast, and advocate for access to public health measures such as vaccinations to support all citizens. Invite groups to share their ideas with the larger group.

What Else Do We Need?

• Access to a shared document (chart paper and markers or online interactive tool)
• Space for activity
• Access to information about diseased and conditions preventable with vaccines
• Health statistics from various countries
• Media images for provocations - use of Inquiry and/or demonstrate the media bias which is often evident

How Do We Get Creative?

Locate and show participants various media images that advocate for social justice and health care equity. Have participants design their advocacy media image or create a media message that might be posted on their school’s social media sites.

¹Extracted from OECD, Better Life Index (2022). Retrieved from: https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/health/

²Extracted from U.S. News and World Report, Canada: #1 in Overall Rankings (2022). Retrieved from: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/canada

³Extracted from Global Health Watch Index (2022). Retrieved from: https://www.helpage.org/global-agewatch/