The Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) has reached allVietnamese children, becoming one of the most important humanitarianachievements of Vietnam’s health sector that has received internationalrecognition.
At a tele-conference on the EPI inHanoi on August 2, Dr. Kohei Toda from the World Health Organisation(WHO) in Vietnam said that after 30 years, the programme has providedprotection for around 67 million children in Vietnam through freevaccination against free against 11 diseases, including tuberculosis,diphtheria, tetanus, polio and measles.
It wasreported at the conference that thanks to the EPI Vietnam has eradicatedsmallpox, polio and tetanus. The incidence of measles among childrenhas dropped from hundreds of thousands of cases before 1985 to severaldozens at present. The rate of hepatitis B virus infection in childrenwas also reduced to 2 percent in 2010.
Vietnamhas also become able to produce 10 out of the 11 types of vaccines usedin the EPI, meeting more than 70 percent of the programme’s vaccineneed.
Vaccines for other diseases like parotitis, rubella, andavian influenza type H5N1 and H1N1 are being developed and tested.
However, experts said the EPI is facing new challenges when foreignassistance for the field is reducing. In particular, a number of deathsafter vaccinations are also causing concerns.
EPIreports show that among 11 kinds of vaccines given to 1.7 millionVietnamese children every year, the vaccine Quinvaxem and Hepatitis Bhave been recognised as causing the most infant fatalities.
Most recently, three children in central Quang Tri province died afterbeing given hepatitis B vaccinations at Huong Hoa DistrictHospital on July 20.
The health ministry hasordered suspension of this vaccine and send the related batches ofvaccine abroad for safety checks.
In recent years, the Health Ministry has issued a safe immunisation procedure and tightened vaccine control.-VNA