Zambia Philately: 1970 Preventive Medicine – 25n Immunisation

Immunisation is the process by which an individual’s immune system becomes fortified against an infectious agent (known as the immunogen). When this system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body, called non-self, it will orchestrate an immune response, and it will also develop the ability to quickly respond to a subsequent encounter because of immunological memory.

The 25n stamp shows Sir Edward Jenner. Jenner introduced inoculation with cowpox (smallpox vaccine), a much safer procedure. This procedure, referred to as vaccination, gradually replaced smallpox inoculation, now called variolation to distinguish it from vaccination. Until the 1880s vaccine/vaccination referred only to smallpox, but Louis Pasteur developed immunization methods for chicken cholera and anthrax in animals and for human rabies, and suggested that the terms vaccine/vaccination should be extended to cover the new procedures.

Immunisation for children is still provided through Zambia through Under 5 (U5) Clinics.

Details
  • Designer: Victor Whiteley (based on designs by Professor King)
  • Printer: Bradbury Wilkinson & Co
  • Process: Lithography
  • Paper: 
  • Watermark: None
  • Perf: 13.5 x 12 (comb)
  • Cylinders: Printed in panes of two and divided by a vertical gutter.
    • 1a 1a 1a : 1 1 1 [left : right]
    • 1c 1c 1c : 1b 1b 1b [left : right]
  • Sheet: R5 x 5 (25 stamps)
  • Quantity:
Sheet Numbers
References