WHO-PAHO: New vaccine protects Haitian children from five diseases
Feature
April 2013

Excerpt
Haiti has recently introduced the pentavalent vaccine, a combination vaccine designed to protect children from five dangerous diseases….

Haiti is among the countries in the Americas with highest child mortality rates. The main causes are acute respiratory infections like pneumonia, diarrhoeal diseases, anaemia and chronic malnutrition. Vaccines are an effective way of preventing many of these diseases. The “five-in-one” pentavalent vaccine protects children from diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) which causes pneumonia and meningitis…

This is why the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), WHO’s Regional Office for the Americas, has been working with Haiti’s Ministry of Health and Population to integrate the new vaccine into the national immunization programme – putting Haiti on par with the rest of the Americas…

Full release: http://www.who.int/features/2013/haiti_pentavalent_vaccine/en/index.html