Zimpapers Logo

Herald Reporter
Government has completed the expansion of national cold storage facilities to store the rotavirus vaccine and has started distributing the anti-diarrhoea vaccine to children below the age of five, a senior Government official has said.Director of epidemiology and disease control in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Portia Manangazira said the rollout for the rotavirus started on May 1 countrywide.

She said Government will officially launch the rotavirus vaccine next week, together with the official opening of the cold storage facilities.

“The cold storage facilities are now complete and set to be officially opened next week on August 6 at an event that will coincide with the official launch of the rotavirus vaccine,” said Dr Manangazira.

She said the other vaccine for prevention of cervical cancer in girls known as Human Papiloma Virus (HPV) is set to be rolled out on September 15.

The HPV vaccine pilot project was supposed to have started in May in Beitbridge and Marondera, but was delayed due to late delivery.

About 9 000 adolescent girls aged 10 years from the two selected districts will receive the new anti-cancer vaccine under a Government’s 20-month pilot project.

The vaccinations are meant to cut down numbers of women suffering from cervical cancer.

According to Health and Child Care Ministry, 4 441 young girls were earmarked to receive the HPV vaccine in 2014, while 4 490 others of the same age will be vaccinated in 2015.

The girls are expected to complete a course of three vaccinations over a six month   period.

Should the project be successful, Government intends to rollout a national programme targeting girls between the ages of nine and 10.

“Both vaccines are key in public health delivery system,” said Dr Manangazira.

She said the rotavirus vaccine was for prevention of diarrhoeal diseases in children under the age of five.

In Zimbabwe, diarrhoea peaks between April and August.