Health Ministry begins Pneumococcal vaccination campaign for kindergarten students The Health Ministry began Sunday the second phase of a campaign of the Pneumococcal vaccine for kindergarten students nationwide, the ministrys undersecretary Dr. Khaled Al-Sahlawi announced.Announcing the start of the second phase, Al-Sahlawi said the ministry was keen on preserving health of children through preventive measures.He said the ministry was paying great attention to chronic diseases, however the battle against the infectious diseases is not over specially those spreading among children. The State of Kuwait, said Al-Sahlawi, was always keen on providing the best vaccinations to students which were approved by renowned health organizations, like the World Health Organization (WHO).He said the Pneumococcal vaccine would be given to kindergarten students in government and private schools as a prevent measure against the pneumococcus bacterium.The pneumococcus bacterium, added Al-Sahlawi, was a major cause of death of children under the age of five. It is the cause of 70 percent of childhood pneumonia, and 49 percent of meningitis as well as causing ear infections, and bacteremia (blood stream infection).Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health Dr. Qais Al-Duwairi said the collaboration of the health and education ministries contributed to prevention of children from different diseases.He said international agreements called for importance of protection of well-being of children. He noted that a million children under the age of five die every year because of the the pneumococcus bacterium, or 20 percent of overall childrens deaths.Before applying the pneumococcal vaccine to Kuwait, he added, the bacterium was the cause of death of 3.567 people every year. Therefore a national committee in Kuwait started using the pneumococcal vaccine which was preventing 13 types of diseases and would boost immunity by 40 percent.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 04:54:05 +0000