Rwanda has set a goal for the end of 2009, to immunise 395,000 people by the new year. The program in funded by private partnership GAVI, and the target audience for the immunisations against pneumococcal which can produce pneumonia and other diseases, will be in infants under the age of 1 year. Almost all developed countries already have routine child vaccinations, but Rwanda will be the first developing world to implement a plan such as this. It is said to be one of the most preventable of diseases that goes untreated. This program could eliminate the unnecessary deaths that it brings as well has help to achieve one of the UN Millennium Development Goals for 2015 by reducing child mortality rates. The goal was set in April and since there has been a push for other countries to follow. The current methods would cut the child mortality rate due to this disease by 65%. One of the key things to do besides providing the immunisation is to urge mothers to breast feed. It only takes $12.9 to save a child's life. Hopefully by the end of this year Rwanda will have achieved or surpassed their goal.
-Sara Frodge
Source: Reuters
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