Expanded immunization programme in 2001
Ha Noi, March 15 -- The State will spend VND 70 billion, about USD 4.8 million, on the national expanded immunization programme this year, ensuring vaccines for all localities and medical centres.
A meeting to launch this year's National Expanded Immunization Programme, NEIP, was held at the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute in central coastal Khanh Hoa province on March 13 and 14.
The targets of this year's programme are to prevent the re-occurance of polio, to reduce the rate of tetanus to less than 0.25 per 100,000 in all districts; to provide more than 90 percent of children under six with vaccines against six infectious diseases and more than 80 percent of pregnant women with vaccine against tetanus neonato'rum; and to reduce the rates of measle infection to less than 15 per 100,000, diphtheria infection to less than 0.1 per 100,000, and whooping cough infection to less than 1 per 100,000. Additionally, vaccination against hepatitis B typhoid and cholera encephalitis B will be conducted in key areas.
The Health Ministry has instructed relevant agencies and all localities to promote information dissemination and education about healthcare and immunization among the people; provide further training in expanded immunization programme to medical workers; control the implementation of the programme; and ensure vaccines for all localities including mountainous and remote areas.
NEIP Chairman Prof. Dang Duc Trach said that Viet Nam had gained encouraging achievements in implementing the programme from 1996-2000 with the programme implemented in at least 90 percent of communes nationwide. Besides providing vaccines against six child killer diseases, the programme started to provide the people with four more kinds of vaccine against hepatitis B, typhoid, cholera, and encephalitis B. As a result, Viet Nam was officially recognized in October 2000 to have eliminated polio.--VNA
