Thai Ministry of Public Health and WHO Host Meeting of Leading Researchers to Highlight Burden of Meningitis and Pneumonia

Bangkok--30 Mar--Total Quality PR

Hib and Pneumococcal Disease Two Major Causes of Life-Threatening Meningitis and Pneumonia in South Asian Children *

Every year the deadly diseases meningitis and pneumonia kill an estimated 2 million children globally under the age of 5 years. Of these deaths, many occur in Africa and Asia. Experts are meeting in Bangkok this week will focus on two major life-threatening causes of pneumonia and meningitis: the bacteria Haemophilus influenzae type B (or “Hib”) and streptococcus pneumonia. Both pneumonia and meningitis are vaccine-preventable.

The urgent need for a sustained effort to accelerate the prevention of meningitis and pneumonia formed the core of discussions amongst leading researchers attending a Ministry of Public Health and WHO meeting today. With Hib and pneumococcal diseases estimated to be responsible for up to 1.4 million child deaths globally each year - local efforts to measure the scale of the problem in Asia are gaining momentum.

“Effective surveillance of meningitis and pneumonia has helped us to better understand the magnitude of the problem and help evaluate the impact of available vaccines”, commented Dr. Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele, Director, Department of Immunization Vaccines and Biologicals, WHO.

Sadly children with HIV/AIDS are up to 40 times more likely to get pneumococcal disease than children without HIV/AIDS, and in countries such as Thailand where rates of HIV/AIDS are high, Hib and pneumococcal diseases place an additional burden on national health systems.

Dr. Supamit Chunsuttiwat from the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, said “the Thai government is committed to improving child survival and combating meningitis and pneumonia. Vaccines are a simple and effective health intervention, and while Thailand has high vaccine coverage rates, there is still much work to be done to introduce other vital vaccines. By partnering with governments and civil societies we can work faster together to prevent unnecessary death and suffering”.

Dr Rana Hajjeh, The Hib Initiative, Project Director said: “systematic surveillance is critical to making evidence-based decisions for the introduction of pneumococcal and Hib vaccines. We could save millions of children’s lives and make a significant move towards meeting a key UN Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality by two thirds by 2015”. Dr. Orin Levine, Executive Director, GAVI’s PneumoADIP commented that now is an incredibly exciting time for those working in pneumococcal disease prevention. Through sustained financing from GAVI and an Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) vaccines are going to be reaching the children who need them as early as 2008.

The Pneumococcal and Hib Surveillance Network Investigators meeting was sponsored by the World Health Organisation, GAVI’s PneumoADIP and the Hib Initiative and brought together experts from a number of Asian countries including, amongst others, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. The importance placed on this meeting reflects the global community’s increasing focus on meningitis and pneumonia, and the urgent need for a global solution.

Further information can also be found at: www.HibAction.org and www.PreventPneumo.org

For more information please contact:

Hans Kvist

Director, Communications

GAVI’s PneumoADIP

Mobile in Bangkok: +1 410 736 8243

Email: [email protected]

Selina Haylock

Consultant

Ruder Finn Communications

Mobile in Bangkok: +44 (0)7768 823 989

Email: [email protected]