The federal government Monday officially flagged off the Rotavirus vaccine introduction into routine immunisation in Nigeria.
The vaccine is meant for babies between ages 6 and 14 weeks.
At the flag-off ceremony held at Area 2 Primary Health Care Clinic, Garki, Abuja, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said it is estimated that the vaccine would save over 110 babies from untimely death in the next 10 years.
Represented by director of Public Health in the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Alex Okoh, the minister commended the effort of the executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuiab, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and others for ensuring the successful launch of the vaccine.
Dr Shuib stated that Rotavirus is one of the leading causes of diarrheal disease in the world and it is responsible for over 40% of diarrhoea in children.
He said: “It is the most frequent cause of severe diarrhoea, accounting for about 215,000 of the global 525,000 under-5 mortality attributed to diarrheal diseases each year.
“Nigeria has the second highest number of deaths from rotavirus, accounting for 14% of all childhood rotavirus deaths worldwide. Annually, approximately 50,000 deaths occur in children under 5 years in Nigeria as a result of rotavirus infection.
“Introduction of Rotavirus vaccine is a big investment due to its substantial economic impact and number of lives that the country is going to save from the introduction. It is projected that while reducing the associated morbidity and mortality from the rotavirus infections, the rotavirus vaccine introduction has the potential to avert over 110,000 deaths over a 10-year period.
“This vaccine is going to be given orally and will be administered concurrently with the existing Routine Immunization (RI) vaccines at 6weeks, 10 weeks and 14 weeks, respectively. The vaccine will be integrated with other diarrheal preventive strategies.”