POST 00793E : OTHER INTERVENTIONS WITH VACCINATION

POST 00793E : OTHER INTERVENTIONS WITH VACCINATION Follow-up on Posts 00789E and 00791E 27 May 2005 _____________________________________ Robert Steinglass (mailto:[email protected]) from ImmunizationBasics makes some comments on Bob Davis and Juan Ortiz' presentation. You will have noticed that this presentation was not in Post 00790E as I had written, but the previous one 00789E. The second contribution is from Jim Ricca (mailto:[email protected]) from the American red Cross, who explains briefly Red Cross efforts to integrate with routine EPI. _____________________________________ Hi, Bob. Thank you for these slides and for your dissemination efforts. Better use of the routine immunization platform can assist other programs to achieve their own objectives and thereby raise the value of immunization programs across the many programs and interventions. The Lancet series (quoted in your slides) did a great job in late 2003 of alerting the world to the continuing magnitude of preventable child mortality. However, in my opinion, the series also undervalued the importance of vaccination. The Lancet articles estimated that in the 42 countries with 90% of child mortality, only 100,000 deaths were due to measles each year. Yet at the same time, WHO (WER article in February 2004) estimated more than 600,000 deaths annually due to measles. Furthermore, even though pertussis is estimated to kill more children each year than neonatal tetanus, pertussis did not receive attention as a continuing major cause of mortality. This is more than just an academic discussion. It is my understanding that the models used to generate the figures for The Lancet series back in 2003 are still being used to identify burden of mortality in some of the broader child health partnership work being done in Africa and elsewhere. Then, of course, there is the issue that past reductions in vaccine-preventable disease mortality cannot be taken for granted and assumed to continue automatically. Past drops in vaccine-preventable disease mortality still must be sustained, even as we look for the current causes of mortality. Thanks again for the interesting articles. Robert Robert Steinglass Technical Director IMMUNIZATION Basics ------------------------------- I'm sure that there is ample experience with coupling EPI service delivery to other MCH services that others will want to recount in response to this request. I just wanted to make people aware of the fact that the Red Cross is currently involved in such work and is looking to expand its experience. For instance, as a follow-up to the December 2004 Togo Measles/Malaria Campiagn, there is an ongoing multi-year Red Cross/Togo MoH effort to link ITN distribution to routine EPI as a way to maintain high rates of ITN use after the "initial country-wide priming" that occurred through the campaign. The Red Cross has been looking for other countries in which to implement this model of a national scale "quantum leap" in ITN usage rates through a national Measles/Malaria Campaign and then maintaining the high rates of ITN use afterwards by linking ITN distribution to routine EPI services. In any case, I have also copied a number of people at Red Cross Washington, Ottawa, and Geneva who have been directly involved with this effort, so perhaps they will want to contribute more information than I am able......... Jim Ricca, MD, MPH Senior Health Advisor American Red Cross ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Visit the TECHNET21 Website at http://www.technet21.org You will find instructions to subscribe, a direct access to archives, links to reference documents and other features. ______________________________________________________________________________ To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message to : mailto:[email protected] Leave the subject area BLANK In the message body, write unsubscribe TECHNET21E ______________________________________________________________________________ The World Health Organization and UNICEF support TechNet21. The TechNet21 e-Forum is a communication/information tool for generation of ideas on how to improve immunization services. It is moderated by Claude Letarte and is hosted in cooperation with the Centre de coopération internationale en santé et développement, Québec, Canada (http://www.ccisd.org) ______________________________________________________________________________