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July 3, 2002

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Nigeria: Pediatricians Seek Routine Immunization for Hib" Africa News Service (www.allafrica.com) (07/02/02)

Nigerian government officials are being urged to include the Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine into the national immunization program.  Speaking last week at a Hib conference sponsored by the Pediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN) and the drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, PAN president Kike Osinusi asserted that since Hib conjugate vaccines were introduced in the late 1980s and incorporated into national immunization programs in many developed and some developing nations, morbidity and mortality from the disease have dropped significantly.  Osinusi presented a paper, titled "The Burden of Hib Disease: A Case for Inclusion in the National Programme on Immunization," in which she stated that immunization is the best means of controlling the deadly disease.  According to Osinusi, "The vaccines that effectively control the rising incidences of mortality and morbidity from Hib disease are available, and can be provided by the GAVI, but government has to show commitment, and capability of handling and distributing it to those most in need of it."

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