Kampala, 20th January 2014:- Uganda has received the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) after meeting all the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Global Vaccine Initiative (GAVI). The vaccine is now ready for distribution to private and public health facilities in 94 out of the 112 districts of the country.

The PCV that will be given to all children under 1 year at 6, 10 and 14 weeks offers protection against pneumonia and some forms of Meningitis that are among the top childhood killer diseases in the country. The vaccine was formally launched by His Excellency The President of The Republic of Uganda, General Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in April last year.

Announcing the rollout the Minister of State for Health (Primary Health Care) Hon.Sarah Opendi said that the vaccine, which is made available since January 2014, is free of charge to all eligible children. The minister added that the vaccine will be given at the same time with the Pentavalent vaccine through an injection on the upper part of the right thigh.

So far, 750,000 doses have been received in the country and will last for two months. More doses will be imported bearing in mind the country’s capacity to store and distribute the vaccine on a quarterly basis.

The PCV is extremely heat sensitive and very expensive hence the need to ensure that necessary preparation such as a working cold chain system, trained personnel, storage capacity and data capturing tools are in place before it is rolled out. This preparation phase has taken Uganda eight months to accomplish with only 18 districts remaining.

There are now nine immunizable diseases in Uganda with adequate vaccine quantities to ensure fully immunized children by the time they are one year old. “There is no reason whatsoever why any district or health facility should have stock-outs of any vaccine. I therefore appeal to all parents and guardians to take their children for vaccination against all the immunizable diseases” Hon Opendi emphasised.

Dr Wondimagegnehu Alemu, the WHO Country Representative, congratulated the country on the rollout and pledged WHO’s continued technical support to the government of Uganda. He promised support to the 18 districts that are yet to meet the standards so that they are ready for PCV distribution by end of February 2014.

Overall, the PCV is expected to prevent 840 and 94,071 cases of pneumococcal meningitis and pneumonia respectively in children under 5 years. In addition, the vaccine will save 465 and 10,796 lives that could have been lost due to same diseases.