Hello everyone, Mozambique, at present, uses only a simple measles vaccine in the Measles Routine for measles prevention.
However, with support from GAVI, Mozambique is preparing a campaign against Measles and Rubella for April 2018, then introducing the Measles and Rubella Vaccine into Routine Immunization. At this time, the country has already been prepared for the Anti-Measles and Rubella sufficient for Campaign and for introduction and routine use. But we have...

The theme “Close the immunization gap” continues in this year’s World Immunization Week campaign with the slogan "Immunization for all throughout life". The campaign – takes place from 24 to 30 April – aims to remind us that vaccination needs to continue throughout a person’s life.


WHO developed a campaign toolkit for partners and members of the global immunization community to help ra...

Evolution, growth and development, extension-expansion, operational research are all natural processes. Launch of a new programme with a properly fitting outfit, infuses rejuvenation, jubilance, reminds the commitment and sustains interest among the service providers in implementing the old programme. Mission Indradhanush completed one year and we thought of sharing the “Power of Peer Education” for sustenance of the success during the inter MI periods through regular outreach...

Global commitment eradicated polio in 4 regions. Before eradication, globally an estimated 959 cases used to occur per day which is now reduced to...

The need to keep vaccines in a 2°C to 8°C cold chain is a constraining factor for many immunization campaigns due to limited storage capacity and/or limited ice pack freezing capacity; supplementary immunization activities planned across sub-Saharan Africa to introduce MenAfriVac™ are a good example. In 2012, the licence for the Serum Institute of India’s meningitis A vaccine, MenAfriVac®, was changed based on a thorough review of scientific data by regulatory authorities and the World Health Or...

It is customary to develop and share user-friendly ‘OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES’ for clarity and uniformity among service providers as and when a new vaccine (e.g. H1N1, Pentavalent) is introduced or there is a change in strategy (e.g. from 1 dose measles vaccine to 2 doses). From this month (April 2013), in Karnataka (India), 2 doses of the JE vaccine are to be administered in the endemic districts, instead of a single dose, with the DPT/OPV booster + measles 2nd dose; the first dose is to be given ...

I have attached a PPT on operational guidelines to introduce the newer pentavalent vaccine for further editing/inputs from the viewers. This will give an opportunity to refresh and re-orient the service providers on DPT and hepatitis B also. Operational-guidelines-New-Pentavalent-Vaccine.pdf...

Introduction Raymond Hutubessy is a senior health economist affiliated to the Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals (IVB) Department of the World Health Organization (WHO), and is the executive secretary of the WHO Immunization and Vaccines related Implementation Research Advisory Committee (IVIR-AC). His main research interests focus on economic and financial analyses of vaccine introduction decisions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this Q&A, he will discuss the importanc...

by Dan Brigden, PATH In November 2012, the first immunization campaign to use a controlled temperature chain (CTC) took place in Banikoara in northern Benin. This photo set contains photographs taken during the campaign, where over 155,000 people were vaccinated using the CTC approach.

by Simona Zipursky, PATH; Mamoudou Harouna Djingarey, WHO/AFRO; Olivier Ronveaux, WHO/AFRO; Sylvestre Tiendrebeogo, Consultant In November 2012, the first immunization campaign to use a controlled temperature chain (CTC) took place in Banikoara in northern Benin. MenAfriVac is a meningitis A vaccine developed by the Serum Institute of India with support from PATH and the World Health Organization (WHO) through the

Diarrheal disease is among the five leading causes of morbidity and mortality among under-five children in Malawi. In the multiple indicator survey conducted in 2006, nearly a quarter (23.3%) of under-five children reported having a diarrhea episode in the previous two weeks. Rotavirus infection contributes significantly to diarrheal diseases among children under the age of five years. To reduce this burden, Malawi launched rotavirus vaccine on October 29, 2012. While the launch happens in a ...

by Kamel Senouci and Lara Gautier, AMP Many national immunization programs rely on the professional advice of national immunization technical advisory groups (NITAGs) to help them make critical decisions on introducing new vaccines. Implemented in April 2008 by Agence de Médecine Préventive (AMP) in partnership with the International Vaccine Institute, the SIVAC Initiative supports the development of these NITAGs i...

The Indian government suspended research in April 2010 on the feasibility and safety of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in two Indian states (Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat) amid public concerns about its safety. This paper describes cervical cancer and cancer surveillance in India and reviews the epidemiological claims made by the Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) in support of the vaccine in these two states. National cancer data published by the Indian National Cancer Re...

Cross-posted from the February 2012 Global Immunization News issue. Many thanks. 29/02/2012 from Jhilmil Bahl, WHO HQ As the introductions of Pneumo and Rota vaccines in 2012 are fast approaching, training materials are being developed at WHO/HQ. Rotarix materials will be available by mid-March on the NUVI website, in English and French and will consist of: - A slide set, consisting ...

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that the HPV vaccine be administered at 11 to 12 years of age in both boys and girls.I do not know the studies that show cost-benefit analysis of the vaccine in females, especially in a scenario when many countries are against this vaccine. The rationale of AAP is 2-fold: First, the vaccine is most effective if it is administered before the individual begins engaging in sexual activity, mainly because the vaccine is inactive against HPV stra...

Cross-posted from the January 2012 Global Immunization News issue. Many thanks. 31/01/2012 from Osman Mansoor, UNICEF Pneumonia and diarrhoea remain the top two causes of child deaths. The availability of new vaccines against the top causes of pneumonia (Hib, PCV) and diarrhoea (RV) in children offers the opportunity to rapidly reduce child deaths towards the achievement of MDG4. However, these vaccines cannot prevent all cases of pneumonia and diarrhoea and it is important that these new...

Dear Friends, Sharing with you the PPT by Katie Hampson for comments, that was telecasted world over in a webinar by World Rabies Day....

This article appears in the 23 June 2011 issue of Vaccine: "Assessing the potency of oral polio vaccine kept outside of the cold chain during a national immunization campaign in Chad". This study provides proof-of-concept evidence that certain typs of OPV remain potent and thus can be kept, for limited periods of time, and administered at ambient temperatures. Full article available for purchase at

In collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc. and GSK, PATH Seattle has prepared a list of countries where each of these company's vaccines is licensed and a world map showing the countries where one of the vaccines is licensed for use and the countries where both vaccines are licensed for use.
These two documents can be seen on TechNet21 website:
Global HPV vaccine licensure status: June 2011

Any updates about how soon we may see HiB and Pneumococcal vaccines included in the national immunization schedule of India? What stage are the efforts of the government in this regard?...

In recent years, supply chain management has received growing attention as both a priority and a challenge for many countries scaling up immunization services with new vaccines. Indeed, the vaccine supply chain and logistics systems face the challenge to manage an increasing number of vaccines of higher value, greater volume and greater complexity in terms of packaging and presentations. Yet, little additional resources to adequately expand the supply chain systems are available, and alternative...

Pentavalent stories: Lucknow deaths subjudice http://hindu.com/2010/08/24/stories/2010082457281300.htm Initially, it was said that three deaths had occurred due to the anti-measles vaccine and one death due to the BCG shot. Then it was said the children were given BCG vaccine instead...

Friends - please see here the Call to Action recently approved by the GAVI Alliance Civil Society Constituency Steering Committee regarding the forthcoming Pledging Conference on June 13 in London. We invite your endorsement of the Call. If you/your organization wish to endorse the Call, please so indicate by sending me an email (ahinman@taskforce.org) indicating your name, your organiza...

Dear Moderator, I am perturbed to know that people of Bangladesh have to pay Tk 40.25 to get obsolete Nerve Tissue Vaccine (NTV), recommended not to be used by WHO, but they are getting Pentavalent Free ! Banglaseh spends approximately Tk 1 crore ( 10 Million )every year on nerve tissue vaccine. I appeal to donor agencies to help Bangladesh procure and produce tissue culture antirabies vaccine so that many people (about 1500) could be saved from the jaws of death and a lot ...

Many thanks! A dozen updates this week as the new vaccine pledging meeting approaches. Will the funds pledged next month cover the needs for introduction of rotavirus, pneumococcal and HPV vaccines? ‘The doubt is permitted,’ as they say in French. Here are the titles of the new technical updates. Scroll down for details, also available at http://www.childsurvival.net : ·

In this podcast, Steve McCarney, cold chain technologies specialist with Project Optimize, PATH, shares his insights with Pharma IQ, on how advances in vaccines and emerging markets have impacted the cool chain and will continue to do so. He also assesses the impact of technology innovations on the efficiency and sustainability of supply chain and logistics systems and the availability and quality of products that move through the system. Listen to the webcast at

Webinar now available on Cervical Cancer Action website; Please visit the Cervical Cancer Action Multimedia web page to watch and listen. For more information, please contact info@cervicalcanceraction.org [size=14]HPV vaccination in developing countries: Recent lessons from six pilot programs[/size] by Scott Wittet, Lead, Advocacy and Communication, Cervical Cancer Prevention Programs, PATH

Many thanks to Diana Chang Blanc for sharing this information with us. Introducing a vaccine: Policy and Programme Considerations Dear Colleagues, You may recall a brochure from the June 2010 NUVI Meeting "market place" describing an updated Vaccine Product Menu which would be available in 2010. This email is to announce the availability of this updated product menu as part of a more comprehensive new vaccines resource entitled "Introducing a vaccine: policy and p...

Call for Documents on the Effects of New Vaccine Introduction on National Immunization Programs and Health Systems Robert Steinglass and Mike Favin post this request. The USAID-funded MCHIP Project (Maternal and Child Health Implementation Project) would very much appreciate your assistance in identifying studies and reports from developing countries that contain information on effects – whether positive or negative – of new vaccine introduction on the national immunization programs...

A big thank you to Kim Kertson, PATH, for this note! Less than ten years after the creation of the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP) the new meningococcal A conjugate vaccine is ready to be introduced in Africa. MenAfriVacTM was licensed by the Indian regulatory authorities in December 2009, prequalified by the World Health Organization in June 2010, and registered in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso in summer 2010. The licensing and prequalification process is a guarantee that the vaccine meets s...