Misperceptions about vaccines: Gavi to engage legislators, media in advocacy drive
Anuradha Gupta says country’s immunisation efforts laudable
Anuradha Gupta says country’s immunisation efforts laudable.
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan has made tremendous strides in developing a cold chain system to store vaccines by constructing a state-of-the-art warehouse in Islamabad.
“Vaccine management is a tricky issue which needs a recommended temperature between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius,” Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) Deputy CEO Anuradha Gupta told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.
“The efficacy of vaccines is impacted below 2 degrees and above 8 degrees but it does not have negative effects,” she said after a media briefing at the end of the mission’s weeklong visit to Pakistan.
“There is a lot of misperception and biased about polio vaccines. Gavi is planning to launch an advocacy programme in the country by engaging parliamentarians, media and civil society to reject these misperceptions,” she said.
In Pakistan, around 400,000 children under five die every year, with half the deaths attributed to vaccine preventable diseases, Gupta said.
She said that cold chain was a fragmented market which needed innovation and Gavi was devising a cold chain optimism plan to bring innovation to the sector.
She said that Gavi provides 80 per cent funds to Pakistan for vaccines while 20 per cent to improve the storage and transportation system.
Earlier, addressing the media briefing, she said that Pakistan was making progress in improving its childhood immunisation programme, but sustained commitment at federal and provincial levels was required to increase the coverage of services and reach children who missed out on lifesaving vaccines.
She said that more than 1,000 Pakistani children under the age of five die every day, many of them from vaccine-preventable diseases.
The mission consisted of officials from Gavi, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK Department for International Development, USAID, the Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation, UNICEF and the WHO. The delegation visited Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi to see the progress made in the last 12 months, understand the challenges that lie ahead, and encourage leaders to reinforce their commitment to end childhood vaccine preventable deaths.
“I have been greatly encouraged by much of what I have seen during this visit,” Gupta said, adding that coordination at federal and provincial level had clearly improved.
Gupta said that among the initiatives witnessed by the mission was a recently-expanded approach using mobile phone technology and real-time data to monitor vaccinators, identify children missing out on vaccinations, and strengthen accountability. She said that Punjab has significantly increased immunisation coverage and similar approach was now being initiated in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. She also welcomed the decision by Sindh government to support vaccinators and lady health workers by including operational costs in the province’s recurrent budget.
“All Pakistani children should have access to lifesaving vaccines, no matter where they live,” she said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2016.
Pakistan has made tremendous strides in developing a cold chain system to store vaccines by constructing a state-of-the-art warehouse in Islamabad.
“Vaccine management is a tricky issue which needs a recommended temperature between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius,” Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) Deputy CEO Anuradha Gupta told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.
“The efficacy of vaccines is impacted below 2 degrees and above 8 degrees but it does not have negative effects,” she said after a media briefing at the end of the mission’s weeklong visit to Pakistan.
“There is a lot of misperception and biased about polio vaccines. Gavi is planning to launch an advocacy programme in the country by engaging parliamentarians, media and civil society to reject these misperceptions,” she said.
In Pakistan, around 400,000 children under five die every year, with half the deaths attributed to vaccine preventable diseases, Gupta said.
She said that cold chain was a fragmented market which needed innovation and Gavi was devising a cold chain optimism plan to bring innovation to the sector.
She said that Gavi provides 80 per cent funds to Pakistan for vaccines while 20 per cent to improve the storage and transportation system.
Earlier, addressing the media briefing, she said that Pakistan was making progress in improving its childhood immunisation programme, but sustained commitment at federal and provincial levels was required to increase the coverage of services and reach children who missed out on lifesaving vaccines.
She said that more than 1,000 Pakistani children under the age of five die every day, many of them from vaccine-preventable diseases.
The mission consisted of officials from Gavi, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK Department for International Development, USAID, the Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation, UNICEF and the WHO. The delegation visited Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi to see the progress made in the last 12 months, understand the challenges that lie ahead, and encourage leaders to reinforce their commitment to end childhood vaccine preventable deaths.
“I have been greatly encouraged by much of what I have seen during this visit,” Gupta said, adding that coordination at federal and provincial level had clearly improved.
Gupta said that among the initiatives witnessed by the mission was a recently-expanded approach using mobile phone technology and real-time data to monitor vaccinators, identify children missing out on vaccinations, and strengthen accountability. She said that Punjab has significantly increased immunisation coverage and similar approach was now being initiated in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. She also welcomed the decision by Sindh government to support vaccinators and lady health workers by including operational costs in the province’s recurrent budget.
“All Pakistani children should have access to lifesaving vaccines, no matter where they live,” she said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2016.