A new vaccine for India’s children

India has committed to scale up the pentavalent (five-in-one) vaccine in all districts of the country by 2015.  Introduction of Hib vaccine as a component of the pentavalent vaccine will provide protection from invasive pneumonia and meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b bacterium. Estimates from various studies (Watt and colleagues; Rudan and colleagues) show that 215,000 new cases of Hib pneumonia occurred in Indian children less than 5 years of age prior to vaccination that resulted in 61,000 deaths.

The decision to introduce the pentavalent vaccine in a phased manner in India was taken in 2009 by the Ministry of Health & FW following recommendations from the National Technical Advisory Group for Immunization. This was then supported by  Gavi: the Vaccine Alliance to provide funding worth 165 Million USD to support the introduction of pentavalent vaccine.

On October 29, 2014 the Honorable Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mr Shivraj Chauhan, launched the pentavalent vaccine program in the State. Madhya Pradesh is one of the largest states of the country with an annual birth cohort of around 2 million. Another large state, Rajasthan, with an annual birth cohort of 1.8 Million is all set to roll out pentavalent vaccine shortly. In this current phase the vaccine will be introduced in 12 states followed by a second phase in 2015 where another 16 States will introduce the vaccine. With current plans the scale up of pentavalent vaccine to reach all villages of the country will be completed by the third quarter of 2015.

The scale up plan calls for improved health systems – improved cold chain, supply systems, reporting and investigation of Adverse Events following Immunization and social mobilization. The Gavi Health Systems Strengthening grant that is executed by partner agencies like the World Health Organization, UNICEF and UNDP under the direct supervision and monitoring of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare will facilitate the scale up program for pentavalent vaccine and other new vaccines in use and pipeline.

All 73 of the low and middle income countries which are eligible for GAVI Alliance support have already introduced the pentavalent vaccine. South Sudan was the last Gavi country to  introduce the vaccine in July of this year. Since 2000, more than 440 Million children have been vaccinated with pentavalent vaccine in the world’s poorest communities.

Indians now look forward to an exciting year in 2015. The commitment by the Ministry to roll out new vaccines in the form of Inactivated Polio Vaccine, Rota vaccine, Rubella vaccine (Measles Rubella vaccine), the scale up pentavalent vaccine to all states and the introduction of  Japanese Encephalitis vaccine for adults in 2015 is a  commitment to saving lives of our future citizens from some of the most infectious but vaccine preventable diseases.

Published in collaboration with Impatient Optimists

Author: Raj Ghosh is Deputy Director, India Vaccine Delivery and a public health physician with more than twenty years of experience in immunization and vaccines delivery in India and the South Asia Region.

Image: A health worker displays bottles of vaccine ‘Pneumovax’ during a vaccination programme on the outskirts of the northeastern Indian city of Siliguri August 5, 2008. REUTERS.