Vietnam’s Ministry of Health (MoH) has included a number of new vaccines in the National Expanded Program on Immunization as part of efforts to improve the efficiency of disease prevention, state media reported. According to the ministry, in the context of the high risk of disease outbreak, especially infectious diseases, inoculation campaigns to administer free Japanese encephalitis B injections and the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) to children aged under five are planned. Meanwhile, measles and rubella vaccination campaigns benefited nearly 20 million children aged from 1-14, and eventually for those aged from 16-17 in recent times, contributing to containing the spread of the diseases. As scheduled, the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) will be put to use from 2017, while the use of a vaccine against Rota virus will begin from 2018. The MoH affirmed that the free provision of new vaccines in vaccination programs is to promote sustainable disease prevention, towards sweeping out dangerous infectious diseases. The health sector will continue studying to add new vaccines such as dengue and avian influenza H5N1 vaccines to the national vaccination campaigns. (bnews.vn May 6)
