PAHO reported that Haiti “finalized a plan to ensure immunization against the country’s most prevalent childhood diseases for at least 90 percent of children under 1 by 2015.” The plan was said to reflect the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population’s “determination to re-launch routine vaccination efforts, which were lagging—relative to other countries of the Americas—even before the earthquake.”

PAHO said the plan’s specific goals include:

– increasing immunization coverage from around 60 percent to 90 percent among children under 1;
– maintaining the country free of polio, measles, and rubella;

– eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus by 2015;

– introducing new rotavirus and pneumococcal vaccines, as well as the pentavalent vaccine which protects against diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), which is a bacteria responsible for some types of meningitis and pneumonias; and

– improving immunization surveillance for the early detection of vaccine-preventable diseases.

PAHO’s Deputy Director Dr. Jon Andrus commented, “When Haiti is well supported, its people can do incredible things. The earthquake and cholera outbreak have focused international support, providing an opportunity to help the country catch up in some areas and hopefully leap forward in others.” http://new.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5406&Itemid=1