Lucas Parente
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The National Flu Vaccination Campaign for Senior Citizens surpassed its goal of immunizing 70% of the Brazilian population aged 60 or more by over 13%. According to the secretary of Health Surveillance, Jarbas Barbosa, Brazil is one of the countries with the highest indices of senior citizen vaccination.

"We wanted to vaccinate at least 70% of the Brazilian population aged 60 or more, which is the international recommendation, but we reached 83.93%, a total of over 13 million people vaccinated. This definitely assures Brazil one of the world's highest indices of flu vaccine coverage," Barbosa affirmed.

Flu is one of the contagious diseases of greatest concern to health officials. Among the elderly, when a case of the flu is aggravated, it can open the door to diseases that may be fatal, such as pneumonia. International research indicates that flu vaccination cuts the senior citizen mortality rate in half.

Since 1999, when the National Flu Vaccination Campaign for Senior Citizens began, millions of people aged 60 or more have been vaccinated in Brazil. The Ministry of Health spent over US$ 51 million (R$ 120 million) on this year's campaign.

Translation: David Silberstein