HOW MANY LIVES CAN INDIA VACCINE SAVE?PCV PROGRAMME

This blog is about India's Ongoing Immunisation Programme with the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine(PCV) could prevent approx. 35000 under five pneumonia deadths with its vaccination target of 27 million new born babies , a new world wide study has estimated .

The disease claimed the lives of an estimated 105,000 children under the age of five in 2010. The study published this week in BMJ GLOBAL HEALTH , was carried out jointly by researchers at the university of Strathclyde and the US center for disease dynamic economics and policy , and in India . It sought to access the potential outcome and cost effectiveness of the PCV programme . It found the vaccine is significantly more expensive than others included in the Universal Immunisation Programme . In addition ,its effectiveness remain uncertain in low and middle -income countries .The study conclude that the programme could prevent 34800 under five deaths in India ,cost $240 million and save families $48.7 million in treatment costs annually ."We would recommend the Indian government include PCV vaccination in the Universal Immunisation Programme , and the vaccine's effectiveness should be continously monitered as it is rolled out to provide more data to inform vaccination statergy ,"the university of strathclyde website quotes the lead researcher .