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The Regional Vaccine Policy has vaccine security as on of its
essential aims. To achieve this, the policy supports the supply of vaccines
of assured quality and with sustainable financing. Implementation of this
policy in national plans is therefore an important aspect of making
appropriate preparations for the rational integration of new and
underutilized vaccines. These plans include conducting disease burden
studies, addressing cold-chain challenges, integrating the use of autodisable syringes, and assessing the global supply
situation for both monovalent and combination
vaccines. The work on this regional target thus contributes to the overall
target in the V&B Global Strategy to “accelerate the introduction of
licensed new and underutilized vaccines”.
Through funding from GAVI (the Vaccine Fund), countries have the
opportunity to introduce these vaccines as well as to assess and strengthen
their immunization systems and infrastructure.
The products being considered for the South-East Asia Region are
initially vaccines against hepatitis B and Hib with
purchase being supported through application to the Vaccine Fund. The
decision to introduce other new vaccines as well as other underutilized
vaccines against disease such as measles, mumps rubella, typhoid, Japanese
encephalitis, etc. should be part of a deliberate, rational process in each
country. Through the experience of introducing the new vaccines that are
currently available, the Region’s capacity will gradually grow, building
national expertise which will be useful later in introducing other new
vaccines that may become available for use in the near future, such as
aerosolized measles vaccines. There are also other important global
initiatives ongoing such as the Accelerated Development and Introduction
Programmes for vaccines against pneumoccocus,
Japanese encephalitis, and rotavirus.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major public health problem
worldwide. Approximately 30% of the world’s population, or about 2000 million
persons, have serological evidence of HBV infection. In South-East Asia alone, it is
estimated that between 14 million and 16 million people annually are infected
with HBV and that there are more than 98 million chronic hepatitis B carriers
(HBsAg positive).
Global estimates are that about 450 000 children die each year due to Hib infections, however, the epidemiology and the disease
burden of Hib diseases is less clear in the
South-East Asia Region. Six serotypes (types a-f)
are known to cause disease, but type b is responsible for over 90% of the
life-threatening Haemophilus influenzae
infections in children, including meningitis and pneumonia. Data to demonstrate
that Hib is a major public health problem are
limited from Asia. An urgent first step is
therefore to establish baseline disease-burden data.
In poorer
countries there are many barriers to impede the sustainable introduction of
these vaccines. These obstacles include the lack of data on disease burden
and impact, the lack of financial resources to purchase the vaccines and to
support recurrent running costs, poor delivery infrastructure, and lack of
trained human resources.
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