IVI Watch [to 2 May 2015]
http://www.ivi.org/web/www/home
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:: IVI joins forces with Kia Motors, Korea, Malawi, and WHO to conduct emergency vaccination in flood-hit areas in Malawi
– Southern region in Malawi hit by cholera outbreak due to recent massive flooding.
– International efforts ongoing to stem the potentially explosive deadly outbreak among other post-flood relief measures.
– IVI teams up with Kia Motors, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malawi’s Ministry of Health, and the World Health Organization to vaccinate 160,000 people against cholera in Nsanje District.
[Undated]
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Seoul, Korea – The International Vaccine Institute (IVI), in collaboration with Kia Motors, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (MOFA), Malawi’s Ministry of Health, and the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted an emergency cholera vaccination campaign in Nsanje District in southern Malawi in response to concerns over a rapidly spreading cholera outbreak. The campaign, which targeted vaccinating 160,000 people, was launched on March 31, 2015.

The floods that hit Nsanje District in January this year have killed 176 people and displaced more than 200,000 people. Malawian President Peter Mutharika declared it a national crisis and urged the international community to provide assistance. Amid the situation, an increasing number of cholera cases have been reported in camps for internally displaced persons and surrounding areas. A total of 329 cases have been confirmed since the outbreak began in February, with half of all cases reported in two weeks through April 10.

In the wake of mounting concerns over a potentially explosive outbreak that could kill and sicken thousands as seen in Haiti in 2010 and South Sudan in 2013, IVI, Malawi’s Ministry of Health, and WHO have worked together to rapidly deploy the oral cholera vaccine as an emergency measure to control the outbreak and prevent its further spread.

Since 2013, Kia Motors has been supporting IVI on a survey of areas considered to be at high risk for cholera in Malawi and on preparations for a pilot cholera vaccination demonstration project. However, when the floods struck and a cholera outbreak emerged in southern Malawi in early 2015, Kia Motors responded to the crisis by supporting the procurement of vaccines needed for the emergency vaccination. In addition, the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs has quickly responded to the humanitarian crisis by providing emergency funding to IVI for the vaccination.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to provide help in a small way to flood-affected people in a disaster situation through the cholera vaccination project in Malawi,” Chang Muk Choi, the head of CSR Management Team at Kia Motors Corporation said, “Going forward, Kia will redouble efforts to become a company that helps meet the need of our society.”

The emergency vaccination campaign uses an oral cholera vaccine that was developed by IVI through an international product development partnership with collaborators from Korea, India, Sweden, Vietnam and the United States. The vaccine, Shanchol, (manufactured by Shantha Biotechnics, part of the Sanofi Group) was approved by WHO for global use in 2011. The vaccine is given in two doses and protects against cholera for up to five years…