The Impact of War on Vaccine Preventable Diseases

Introduction: During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which lasted from 1992-1995, the functioning of all sectors was disturbed, including the health sector. Th e priority of the heath sector was treatment and less attention was paid to prevention, and this applies also to the Program of implementation of obligatory immunization, as one of the most important prevention measures. Th is program was conducted with diffi culty and sometimes was completely interrupted because of the lack of necessary vaccines and the inability of adequate maintenance of the cold chain. It was diffi cult and sometimes completely impossible to bring children to vaccination. Because of these problems, a great number of children stayed unvaccinated so they suff ered from vaccine-preventable diseases several years aft er the war. Materials and methods: Th is is a retrospective epidemiological study. We analyzed data from January 1994 to July 2014 in Canton Sarajevo, and data about measles outbreak in 2014. Results: In the period from January 1994 to July 2014, 3897 vaccine-preventable diseases were registered in Canton Sarajevo. Among them measles, rubella and mumps were the most frequent. In March 2014, measles outbreak was registered. Almost all cases are unvaccinated (99%) and 43% of all cases are connected with failure of vaccination during the war. Conclusion: During the war, routine immunization program was disrupted in Bosnia and Herzegovina (also in Canton Sarajevo). Th e consequences are presented as vaccine preventable diseases cases.