BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

THE need to prevent pneumococcal disorders in Nigeria and the West African region as a whole in the drive towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal, MDG, for reduction of childhood mortality, has again been stressed.

A panel of experts in the field of child health from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria who attended the first regional Pneumococcal Summit held in Accra, Ghana, called for urgent moves to address the burden of pneumonia and antibiotic resistance in under 5 children and infants.

The non-promotional summit which was organised by Pfizer Pharmaceutical, provided a platform for healthcare practitioners to discuss various aspects of pneumococcal diseases as well as clinical updates with regards to the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine.

President, Paediatrics Association of Nigeria, PAN, Dr. Dorothy Esangbedo, stressed in her presentation the need for preventing PCDs to save more lives.

Childhood mortality

“To achieve the United Nations Millennium Development goal for the reduction of childhood mortality, we must do all we can to prevent pneumococcal diseases and a major way to achieve this is through the use of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV),” she said.

Medical Director, Pfizer NEAR, Dr. Kodjo Soroh said Pfizer took the initiative to hold a summit in the region to demonstrate its commitment to world class medical education, capacity building and excellent services in the healthcare sector.

According to associate Director, Public Affairs and Communication, Pfizer NEAR, Margaret Olele, “The increasing mortality rate for children who die from PCDs can be reduced with better awareness of the availability and use of PCVs”.

She added that the lives of children and health issues are the primary responsibility of every government and urged the government to ensure that the pneumonia vaccine gets into their National Immunisation Programmes for the benefit of the people who are the greatest resource of any country.