Post 01136e : Vaccine-preventable Mortality

POST 01136E : VACCINE-PREVENTABLE MORTALITY 7 August 2007 ____________________________________________________________ Colleagues, I think this new pie graph from UNICEF/GAVI will be of interest. It shows that 25% of under-5 mortality is still vaccine-preventable. I believe that this pie chart is an improvement over the very familiar pie graph that emerged from the Lancet series and is used by PMNCH and many others, which basically relegated vaccine-preventable mortality as a concern of the past. For ease of reference, here is one version of it. Although the new pie graph from GAVI uses the very same mortality data as the more familiar pie graph, I believe that it presents those data in a more programmatically transparent manner. Deaths due to pertussis and tetanus, which combined equal deaths due to measles, are shown. And the sizeable diarrheal and respiratory deaths, preventable by existing vaccines against Hib, pneumo and rota, are revealed. The gains in reducing mortality in the past through the routine delivery of vaccination services, as well as the potential gains of the future illustrated in this new pie graph, are jeopardized if vaccination programs are not given the appropriate credit - - and related highly visible advocacy - - that they deserve. While dated, this last graph illustrates what those past gains have been and how mortality would again rise in the absence of effective vaccination services. Regards, Robert Robert_Steinglass Technical Director JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. IMMUNIZATIONbasics ______________________________________________________________________________ All members of the TechNet21 e-Forum are invited to send comments on any posting or to use the forum to raise a new discussion or request technical information in relation to immunization services. The comments made in this forum are the sole responsibility of the writers and do not in any way mean that they are endorsed by any of the organizations and agencies to which the authors may belong. ______________________________________________________________________________ Visit the TECHNET21 Website at http://www.technet21.org You will find instructions to subscribe, a direct access to archives, links to reference documents and other features. ______________________________________________________________________________ To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message to : [[email protected]][email protected][/email] Leave the subject area BLANK In the message body, write unsubscribe TECHNET21E ______________________________________________________________________________ The World Health Organization and UNICEF support TechNet21. The TechNet21 e-Forum is a communication/information tool for generation of ideas on how to improve immunization services. It is moderated by Claude Letarte and is hosted in cooperation with the Centre de coopération internationale en santé et développement, Québec, Canada (www.ccisd.org ______________________________________________________________________________