Topic: 2025 – Vaccine Access and Distribution
Country: Ireland
Delegate Name: Damian Drain
The Childhood immunization schedule is free and as of October 2024, varicella, the chickenpox vaccine, was also added to said schedule(Childres health – vaccinations.) Recently, uptake on child vaccination has been declining with hesitant parents intaking misinformation and an overall vaccine fatigue(childhood vaccination in ireland.) This decline threatens previously stable population immunity levels, making Ireland’s main challenge one of public confidence rather than lack of resources.
Ireland believes vaccines are for the public good. It supports WHO led efforts like the WHO pandemic agreement which is a treaty meant to prepare us for future pandemics and includes fair vaccine access and shared medical research results (WHO Pandemic Agreement.) It’s also in support of Immunization Agenda 2030 which hold the notion of “no one left behind” quite well (Immunization Agenda 2030: A Global Strategy to Leave No One Behind.) Ireland’s stance also reflects its broader EU commitments to global health equity and scientific transparency. Within these commitments, Ireland contributes development-aid funding and promotes evidence-based communication strategies in global health forums.
Ireland faces low vaccine participation due to misinformation and vaccine fatigue, not lack of resources. To solve this, Ireland supports public awareness campaigns and education through healthcare professionals to rebuild broken trust. The government will continue to offer free childhood vaccines and evaluate communication strategies used during COVID-19 to strengthen future methods. Internationally, Ireland supports WHO led initiatives to spread confidence in vaccines and equitable vaccine access worldwide. Ireland is prepared to share practices on countering hesitancy, participate in joint international vaccine purchasing when appropriate, and collaborate with EU partners to strengthen global early warning and response systems.
Work Sited
– https://www.who.int/westernpacific/newsroom/fact-sheets/detail/maternal-mortality
– https://data.who.int/countries/372
– https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/RES/54/16
– https://platform.who.int/docs/default-source/mca-documents/qoc/quality-of-care/strategies-toward-ending-preventable maternal-mortality-%28epmm%29.pdf?sfvrsn=a31dedb6_4&utm
– https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/topics/topic-details/GHO/sdgtarget3-1-reduce-maternal-mortality – https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/research/programs/averting-maternal-death-disability-amdd/action/emonc – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK361917
– https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/health/health-services/children-s-health/vaccinations-for-children – https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/0715/1523593-childhood-vaccination-ireland
– https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA78/A78_R1-en.pdf
– https://www.who.int/teams/immunization-vaccines-and-biologicals/strategies/ia2030
