A four-year study on the impact of the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV-10) has found that the PCV-10 prevents children from contracting deadly strains of Pneumonia and meningitis which account for nearly one out of three child deaths in Pakistan, every year.
The study, funded by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and conducted by researchers from Aga Khan University (AKU), investigated the impact of PCV-10 in Karachi, Hyderabad, Matiari and Thatta. Researchers found that the vaccine was 70 percent effective in protecting children from the strains of pneumonia and meningitis.
In addition to studying the vaccine's effectiveness, researchers also analysed factors affecting the coverage of the vaccine in Thatta and Tando Muhammad Khan, two rural districts of Sindh, a province which has one of the lowest rates of immunisation coverage.
Commenting on the findings of the research, Dr Asad Ali, associate professor and director of research in paediatrics at AKU, said that in Pakistan, pneumonia is the leading cause of death in children over the age of one month. "Our study clearly demonstrates the value of making this vaccine available to every child and puts forward new recommendations that will extend the reach of the vaccine to every child, in rural and urban parts of the country," he said.
Speakers at a seminar on said topic also made a range of proposals to further strengthen vaccination delivery systems in the country. They called for three separate quality improvement processes to be used to keep frontline immunization staff motivated and mentoring of low-performing field staff through special programmes run by star performers. They also recommended changes in the way the data is used to make decisions on the outreach campaigns at the district and provincial level.
Dr Khalid Mehmood Ahmed Khan, professor of paediatrics at the National Institute of Child Health said that the PCV-10 vaccine has made a huge difference. "But we still see cases of meningitis and pneumonia in children who were missed in immunization activity," he said urging that the public and private sector must work together aggressively to ensure that every child receives the full course of vaccinations under the national Expanded Programme of Immunization.