Ghana rolls out vaccines against two killer diseases among children
Baku, April 27 (AZERTAC). Ghana on Thursday launched two vaccines to protect children from pneumonia and diarrhoea diseases.
The vaccines being introduced simultaneously have placed Ghana at a historical advantage as the first African country to introduce the pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines.
They would help Ghana to tackle the leading cause of the world`s biggest childhood killers, pneumonia and diarrhoea.
The pneumococcal vaccine would protect children from pneumona, ear infections and meningitis while the rotavirus vaccine would protect children against diarrhoea caused by rotavirus.
Dr Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, First Lady, who launched the vaccines with the administration of the first rotavirus doses to some babies, said the move was an opportunity to improve the health of Ghanaian children.
The Minister of Health, Alban S.K.Bagbin, said the new vaccines being introduced into Ghana`s immunization programme emphasized the country`s commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG4) as well as fighting two major under five killers.
He said that immunization was no doubt one of the most effective public health interventions and the cornerstone of public health care, saving three million lives per year worldwide.
Mr Bagbin noted that Ghana was closer to achieving target for the MDG 4 with the reduction of mortality of children under five years from 111 per 1,000 live births in 2003 to 80 per 1,000 live births in 2008.
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