ISLAMABAD: The Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI) has decided to administer a vaccine for Rotavirus, the most common cause of diarrhoea and vomiting in infants, in the routine immunisation from the first week of November.

The vaccine will be administered in Punjab in the first phase and will be included in routine immunisation across the country in the first quarter of 2017.

According to an estimate, the lives of 29,000 children in Pakistan could be saved each year if the Rotavirus vaccine is included in the routine immunisation programme.

Rotavirus spreads easily among infants and young children, and can be contracted before or after a child becomes sick with diarrhoea. The vaccine is the most effective defence against the virus, but could not be included in the routine immunisation due to its high cost.

Talking to Dawn, EPI National Program Manager Syed Saqlain Ahmed Gilani said a delegation of representatives of health agencies from across the world headed by Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) Deputy Chief Executive Anuradha Gupta visited Pakistan in March this year and assured that Gavi and other agencies, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, World Health Organisation and Unicef, will fund the vaccine.

“Because a number of arrangements need to be made, such as arranging cold storage, training staff, distribution, modifying vaccination cards and registers and informing and educating parents about the new vaccine, it was decided to introduce it in Punjab in the first week of November and in the rest of the country next year,” he said.

Diseases related to diarrhoea are the fourth biggest cause of child deaths in Pakistan and with the introduction of the Rotavirus vaccine, a large number of children under five will be protected against Rotavirus infections, he added.

“Data from five sentinel sites in Pakistan which conduct Rotavirus disease surveillance indicate that approximately one fourth of the hospitalised, severe diarrhoea cases in children under five are due to a Rotavirus infection. Another study indicates that Rotavirus causes one in every three cases of severe acute gastroenteritis in children under five who are hospitalised in urban Pakistani hospitals,” Dr Gilani added.

He added that approximately 37pc of hospitalisations for diarrhoea in children under five across the world are due to Rotavirus. He said children under two suffer more from the virus and that it can also spread to other family members “Countries which have introduced Rotavirus vaccines have seen a dramatic improvement in children’s health,” he said.

A gastroenterologist at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr Waseem Khawaja, told Dawn that including the Rotavirus vaccine in the routine immunisation will be a “big achievement”.

“A large number of children die due to the virus and their parents cannot afford the vaccine for it. If it is included in the routine immunisation, people will be able to get the vaccine for free,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2016