Tanzania:Typhoid fight gains ground

HILDA MHAGAMA

Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elders and Children, Ummy Mwalimu

. . . Gavi approves 187bn/- to support vaccine introduction

IT is all smiles for Tanzanian parents as their children over the age of six months are set to benefit from typhoid vaccine, following the Gavi Board’s approval of 187bn/- (85 million US dollars) to support the introduction of typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCVs) in developing countries.

The funds, agreed by Gavi, at a meeting over the weekend, will go towards bulk-purchases of new typhoid vaccines including one developed by Indiabased Bharat Biotech. Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elders and Children, Ummy Mwalimu, tweeted yesterday that Gavi will commence supporting typhoid vaccine for children.

“As a representative of Anglophone AFRO Gavi Board, I am very happy to be part of this great decision,” she wrote on her tweeter handle. She further wrote that children in Tanzania will also benefit from Gavi’s decision to support the introduction of typhoid vaccine. The funding window will be for 2019-2020.

Typhoid is caused by the bacteria Salmonella Typhi infection, usually through contaminated water, particularly in parts of South and South-East Asia and Africa with inadequate sanitation. Its symptoms include fever, headache and nausea, loss of appetite, constipation and sometimes diarrhoea.

Children are especially susceptible, but the currently licensed vaccines do not confer lasting immunity in children and/or come in inappropriate formats.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), typhoid affects about 21 million people and kills 222,000 annually. Gavi Board Chair, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said typhoid fever imposes a dramatic burden on children in the poorest nation affecting countries and families.

“This disease has long been eliminated from most industrialised nations, but it is still a serious threat in developing countries where the vast majority of deaths occur,” she said.

However, she added that the progress was in danger of being undermined because of the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Drugresistant typhoid is spreading across Asia and Africa, posing a serious threat to public health.

CEO of Gavi, Dr Seth Berkley said the vaccine was safe, effective and can provide lasting protection. The growing spread of drug-resistant strains of typhoid was a major threat, not just to individuals but also efforts to control the disease.

“This requires us to prioritise prevention strategies, strong coverage through routine immunisation, together with efforts to improve access to clean water and hygiene will play a key role in dramatically reducing the disease,” said Dr Berkley.

A new typhoid conjugate vaccine manufactured by Bharat Biotech International Limited and first licensed in India in 2013, is currently under review for prequalification by the WHO. This follows the recent recommendation by the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) that typhoid conjugate vaccines should be introduced in endemic countries, to all children over six months of age.

Vaccines from five additional manufacturers are also under development and are expected to be available between 2018 and 2022. Gavi expects the first countries to apply in 2018 with introduction forecasted to begin the year after.

The Gavi Board also noted that the use of this new vaccine will enable further studies on the impact of the disease, challenges with diagnosis and appropriate immunisation strategies.

GAVI, which is backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the WHO, the World Bank, UNICEF, donor governments and others, funds bulk-buy vaccination programmes for poorer nations that can’t afford shots at developed-economy prices.