The UK government has recognised Tasnim Jara, a Bangladeshi doctor working at England’s National Health Service, as a ‘Vaccine Luminary’ in the G7 Global Vaccine Confidence Summit.
As part of its G7 presidency, the UK government convened the Global Vaccine Confidence Summit on Wednesday, a first-of-its-kind event, bringing together global experts from across the public and private sectors to build and maintain confidence in vaccines.
‘Although I have been featured from the UK on the global map, my work has served more people in Bangladesh and India,’ Jara, also a postgraduate student of evidence-based health care at the University of Oxford, said.
As the only Bangladeshi recognised as a ‘Vaccine Luminary,’ Jara said, ‘I am very proud to represent our part of the world on this global platform.’
An interactive photo mosaic created in partnership with the UK Government and the People’s Picture, titled ‘The Luminaries,’ was also unveiled at the event.
Using video and images, it showcased many global ‘Vaccine Luminaries’ who are taking to social media to build confidence in vaccines, including health care professionals on the front line.
The platform will be available on a dedicated website with plans to feature more ‘Vaccine Luminaries’ from around the world over the next year.
The Global Vaccine Confidence Summit forms part of the UK’s wider work as G7 president this year to bring an end to the pandemic, with vaccine uptake, access and confidence a key component.
Recent data published by YouGov shows that the UK continues to top the list of nations where people are willing to have a Covid-19 vaccine or have already been vaccinated.
During the Summit, world-leading experts at the forefront of efforts to build vaccine confidence and tackle misinformation about vaccines offered their perspectives on the critical global actions that governments and partners from across sectors can take to address the issue.
It was acknowledged that increased levels of vaccine confidence, accessibility and availability are needed globally to end the pandemic.
One of the biggest threats to confidence in vaccines is misinformation, which can damage public perceptions of vaccine safety and efficacy.
Speaking at the Summit, World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus showed his support saying: ‘Trust must be earned. To succeed in vaccinating the whole world, governments will have to deploy a range of strategies and tailor them to each country.’
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former prime minister of Denmark and former CEO of Save the Children International, and co-chair of Facebook’s Oversight Board, also spoke at the Summit.
Other speakers at the Summit included Anthony S Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to the president, and Africa CDC first director John Nkengasong – who debated the relative success and challenges of building vaccine confidence in the US and Africa respectively, and what lessons are relevant for other regions.
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