\u201c<\/a>Children are disproportionately affected by typhoid and its associated complications, and we strongly believe that TCV would protect our children against potentially fatal disease of Typhoid,\u201d said Dr Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health. \u201cStarting with Sindh Province, where the need is most urgent, the government of Pakistan has planned a phased national introduction strategy with strong, coordinated support from global and local partners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 2017, 63% of typhoid cases and 70% of typhoid deaths in\nPakistan were among children younger than 15 years of age. To prevent these\ndeaths, the phased introduction will begin with a two-week campaign targeting 10.1\nmillion children 9 months to 15 years of age in more than 460 urban union\ncouncils of Sindh province with the funding support from Gavi, the Vaccine\nAlliance. This will include 4.7 million children from Karachi. As the\ncampaign needs to reach older children, schools will play a major role.\nFollowing the campaign, the vaccine will be given to 9-month old infants as\npart of routine immunization at EPI centers in all parts of the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTyphoid is a highly contagious disease that spreads more quickly and easily when people live in crowded neighborhoods with weak water and sanitation infrastructure. Beginning the vaccination in urban areas is critical in preventing the disease among the communities most at risk,\u201d said Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, Provincial Minister of Sindh for Health, and Population Welfare. \u201cTyphoid is preventable. Prevention through vaccination is one of the most effective interventions to reduce typhoid infections. The TCV campaign will be conducted from 18th to 30th November in Sindh and will be followed by TCV being a part of the Routine Immunization Program in December.\u201d The government is also promoting WASH solutions (water, sanitation and hygiene) alongside TCV introduction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Typhoid, a serious illness caused by Salmonella Typhi, is\nspread through contaminated food and water and disproportionally impacts\nchildren and low-resource communities in the developing countries. TCV is a\nsafe and effective vaccine prequalified and recommended by the World Health\nOrganization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pakistan\u2019s current typhoid outbreak has sickened more than\n15,000 people in Sindh Province alone, and more than 10,000 of those cases were\nidentified as extensively drug resistant (XDR).This is the first-ever reported\noutbreak of typhoid resistant to the drugs, making it increasingly challenging\nand costly to treat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UNICEF Representative in Pakistan: \u201cWe applaud the\nGovernment of Pakistan for prioritizing immunization of children at risk of\ntyphoid,\u201d said Aida Girma, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTheir phased national introduction plan for TCV will ensure\nthat the vaccine will reach the children most at risk first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TCV is a one-dose vaccine, injected intramuscularly, that is\nlower cost, has higher efficacy, and is expected to provide long lasting\nimmunity in adults, children, and infants older than 9 months of age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBefore the discovery of antibiotics, typhoid would kill as\nmany as one in five people who contracted it,\u201d said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of\nGavi. \u201cThe rise of extreme drug resistant typhoid risks bringing us back to\nlevels of mortality not seen since the 19th century, posing a risk to all of\nus. That\u2019s why typhoid conjugate vaccine is so important and why the government\nof Pakistan deserves praise for being the first to introduce this lifesaver\ninto its routine immunization program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are proud to work in partnership with Gavi to help\nhigh-burden countries introduce this new typhoid conjugate vaccine,\u201d said Dr.\nKathleen M. Neuzil, Director of the Center for Vaccine Development and Global\nHealth at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Director of the\nTyphoid Vaccine Acceleration Consortium. \u201cThis typhoid conjugate should prevent\ndisease in the near-term while governments work on more integrated prevention\nand treatment approaches that also include improvements in safe water,\nsanitation and hygiene.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan today became the first country in the world to introduce typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) into its routine immunization program. The government of Pakistan is launching the vaccine with a campaign in Sindh Province,...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[186,181],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.digitaldips.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7158"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.digitaldips.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.digitaldips.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitaldips.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitaldips.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7158"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitaldips.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7161,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitaldips.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7158\/revisions\/7161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitaldips.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.digitaldips.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitaldips.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitaldips.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}