African Children to Benefit from Two Major Vaccines
By George Okore
African children and those from other developing countries are the major beneficiaries of the newly introduced pneumococcal vaccines against severe diarrhoea and pneumonia - the two leading neonatal killers in the continent.
The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization(GAVI) Alliance Tuesday announced that it will provide funding for 16 more developing countries to introduce rotavirus vaccines against rotavirus, pneumococcal disease and other life-threatening yet preventable diseases .
Funding for rotavirus vaccines in African countries, announced for the first time on Tuesday, in addition to continuing rollout of pneumococcal vaccines across developing countries will have major impact on child mortality and health of future generations.The roll out of rotavirus vaccines across Africa has already begun in Sudan, and the announcement confirms funding for 12 more African countries to follow suit.
According to GAVI CEO Seth Berkley, death toll of rotavirus and pneumococcal infections in Africa is particularly devastating, and thevaccines will make significant impact, not only in lives saved, but also in terms of healthy lives lived.
An ever-increasing number of countries have applied for vaccine funding. GAVI’s Executive Committeehas approved applications from 37 countries – 16 for rotavirus vaccines, 18 for pneumococcal vaccines, five for pentavalent vaccine, and 12 for other types of vaccines. Out of the 37 countries, 24 are in Africa.
Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrhoea in children under five years of age, killing more than half a million children each year worldwide and causing illness in several million more. Nearly 50 per cent of all rotavirus deaths occur in Africa, where access to treatment for severe rotavirus diarrhoea is limited or unavailable.
Pneumococcal disease causes pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis and also takes the lives of more than half a million children each year worldwide, the vast majority of them in Africa and Asia. The funding of 18 more countries (including 12 in Africa) to introduce pneumococcal vaccines will take the total to 37 since the roll out of pneumococcal vaccines in GAVI-supported countries began in December 2010 in Nicaragua.
By 2015, GAVI and its partners plan to support more than 40 of the world’s poorest countries to rollout rotavirus vaccines and immunise more than 50 million children. In addition to Sudan, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Guyana, and Honduras have already introduced rotavirus vaccines with GAVI’s support.
WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan added that the high number of approved applications for funding for new vaccines in this latest round is yet another milestone in the fight to prevent child deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases. "As demand for new vaccines increases, WHO will continue providing critical support to countries for decision-making on new vaccines, surveillance, and immunization programme planning, training, and evaluation’, she said.