New child vaccination programme in Jordan

A new programme to combat pneumococcal disease has got underway in Jordan.

The Ajloon region of the country has received a donation of 15,000 pneumococcal seven-valent conjugate vaccine doses from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

These can be used to vaccinate children against diseases including meningitis, bactaeremia and septicaemia.

Dr Alaa Assem, regulatory, compliance and government affairs director for Wyeth Middle East and North Africa, said that the initiative is trying to help Jordan "protect its children against the potentially devastating consequences of this disease".

"Combating the burden of serious disease globally is an important part of Wyeth's mission. We are committed to protecting current and future generations from pneumococcal disease by expanding global access to the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine," he added.

A forum to discuss pneumococcal disease was hosted in Jordan by Wyeth and included a speech from professor Keith Klugman from Rollins School of Public Health.

More than half of deaths caused by the disease are children younger than five years old.

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