JakartaGlobe, Agence France-Presse, May 14, 2013
A diarrhea-suffering Bangladeshi child receives treatment at the International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B) in Dhaka on April 11, 2010. (AFP Photo/Munir uz Zaman) |
New Delhi.
Scientists unveiled Tuesday an affordable vaccine against a deadly
diarrhea-causing virus that kills some 100,000 children in India every year.
Rotavirus,
which causes dehydration and severe diarrhea, is globally responsible for some
453,000 deaths annually and is particularly threatening in Africa and Asia,
where access to urgent healthcare is often out of reach.
K.
Vijaraghavan, secretary of India’s Department of Biotechnology which steered
the hunt for an affordable rotavirus vaccine, said it was a product of
international cooperation, although it has yet to be approved by New Delhi.
“The result
is a world-class vaccine for India’s children,” he told a press conference in
New Delhi.
“For the
first time we have taken a vaccine from the earliest discovery to every stage
of development and that is a very remarkable thing for India,” he said, adding
that the dollar–a–dose oral vaccine was ready for production.
The vaccine
named Rotavac will be manufactured by Hyderabad–based Bharat Biotech
pharmaceutical firm which has said it has the capacity to mass produce 60
million doses after clearance is given. Each vaccination consists of three
doses.
Rotavirus
is blamed for causing up to 884,000 hospitalizations in India a year, at a cost
to the country of 3.4 billion rupees ($72 million), scientists say.
“We have
(now) added to our know-how and capacity in ways which will pay dividends for
development of future solutions,” said Vijaraghavan.
Each dose
of licensed vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline and Merc cost around 1,000 rupees
($18), said Sushmita Malaviya of PATH, an international healthcare organization
which is also part of the Rotavac program.
M.K. Bhan,
who pioneered the project after local scientists discovered a localized
rotavirus 23 years ago in a New Delhi hospital, said the development was a boon
for India’s creaky public health service.
“Total 25
percent of all diarrhea admissions would be prevented by this and that means
you will have 25 percent less diarrhea illnesses of severe nature in India
which is a very substantial public health gain,” he said.
“We have a
good vaccine which will be useful and we will do post–marketing surveillance
and keep accumulating more experience.”
More than
300,000 babies die within 24 hours of being born in India each year from
infections and other preventable causes, according to a report last week by
Save the Children.
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