African country shows a major step forward
Photo: Tareq Salahuddin
Vaccines against a big killer pneumonia has been launched among African children recently, both backed jointly by drugmakers and groups set up specifically to promote vaccination, says a press release. Rwanda is the first GAVI-eligible nation to introduce vaccine for world's leading infectious child killer. Children in Rwanda lined up to get Wyeth's Prevnar vaccine, which protects against the seven most common strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Wyeth donated 3 million doses of vaccine for the programme, organised in part by the non-profit GAVI Alliance and the USAID. Pneumococcal disease kills 1.6 million people a year, mostly children under five. Introduction of pneumococcal vaccine promises to help country achieve significant reduction in child deaths by 2015 and marks a major milestone for disease prevention in the developing world. While 35 high- and middle-income countries, including South Africa, currently provide routine childhood immunisation against pneumococcal disease, the introduction of the vaccine in Rwanda signals a new era in vaccine access and delivery in the developing world. A sustainable strategy for reducing child mortalityThe focus of GAVI, a global partnership that includes WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank and funded by donor countries and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is now expanding its support for new generation vaccines including against pneumococcal and rotavirus. The promise of next generation pneumo-coccal vaccines
"Financial barriers to vaccines have been overcome," said Dr. Orin Levine, Executive Director of GAVI's PneumoADIP. "The price of action will be measured in dollars. The price of inaction will be measured by the number of children who will lose their lives to a preventable disease." Vaccine against pneumonia is part of the solution, and it is available now. We should not make delay for decision and proper action. We cannot afford to wait until millions of children die as died due to the lack of Hib vaccine. E-mail: tareq.salahuddin@gmail.com
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