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February 19, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"China Vows to Vaccinate All Babies Against Hepatitis B"

Agence France Presse (www.afp.com/english/home) (02/17/03)

China will spend $4.3 million over the next three years to immunize children against hepatitis B, a disease that has infected nearly 10 percent of the country's 1.3 billion population.  The areas of central and western China will be particularly targeted as they are economically not as stable as other regions and have fallen behind in the provision of vaccinations.  China will also receive $315 million dollars from the International Vaccine Immunization Federation to support less prosperous regions, while the wealthier provinces of China are expected to shoulder the brunt of the vaccination costs.  About 300,000 Chinese die every year from liver failure caused by hepatitis B, or about one-third of the global deaths from the disease, according to UNICEF, and hepatitis B is the China's leading cause of death by disease.

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