"Urgent Need to Make Expensive Vaccines Affordable"

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June 12, 2002

 

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

 

"Urgent Need to Make Expensive Vaccines Affordable"

Press Trust of India (www.ptinews.com) (06/10/02)

 

In order to ensure universal coverage, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is demanding that childhood vaccinations decrease in price.  Currently, almost 45 percent of Indian children are not fully immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases due to cost, and up to 14 percent of children do not receive vaccinations at all, according to Vajpayee.  The prime minister launched the Universal Immunization Program, which will include hepatitis B vaccinations for about 2 million infants, in an attempt to decrease the country's high childhood death rate. Vajpayee also calls for improvements in child health, family planning, sanitation, drinking water quality, health education, and auto-destruct syringes.

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