Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on 27 April 2013 formally launched the introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) into the country’s routine immunization schedule to avert infant and child deaths due to pneumococcal disease.
Globally, health problems due to pneumococcal disease claim the lives of more than 1.8 million children under the age of five each year. In Uganda, these killer diseases account for the death of more than 24,000 children every year.
“Health is wealth and one of the surest ways to be healthy and to stay in good health is by getting vaccinated”, the President said at the launch ceremony, held at a rural primary school in Iganga district, eastern Uganda.
Urging Ugandans to take immunization seriously, the President said: “Immunization is not a joke, it is not playing around”. He also told the people to consider the eventuality of a law being introduced that would make it an offence for parents not to vaccinate their children.
The launch, which marked the first step in the rollout of the pneumococcal vaccine into Uganda’s routine immunization schedule, aims to vaccinate initially all Ugandan children younger than one year old, and all Ugandan infants thereafter. The vaccine will be available for free at all health facilities. Continue reading
Child Health Uganda 