CHENNAI: The state government will on Tuesday launch the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) under universal immunisation programme. It is expected to help reduce deaths due to pneumonia and meningitis among children below five.
Roughly 9.23 lakh children are expected to benefit from the programme in the coming year.
Health minister Ma Subramanian will inaugurate the programme at a staterun health centre in Poonamallee, said director of public health Dr TS Selvavinayagam.
Every child will take three doses of PCV — in the 6th week, 14th week and 9th month —for protection from pneumonia, one of the major causes for death in children below five.
PCV will be provided free to children along with other vaccines under the UIP. Currently, a six-week old child receives oral polio vaccine (OPV), rotavirus vaccine (oral drops), inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and penta vaccine (intramuscular injection). Now PCV will join the list, said a senior health department official.
Pneumonia is mostly caused by Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae. The incidence of pneumonia due to H influenzae was earlier around 85%. Now, it has reduced to 15% because of the penta vaccine administered by the government under the UIP PCV will help reduce pneumonia due to Streptococcus pneumoniae and eventually reducing the infant mortality rate, the official added.
Paediatrician S Balasubramanian, part of earlier PCV trials, said the programme helped countries like the US in reducing pneumonia deaths not only in children but even among adults.
It has been two decades since PCV arrived in India. First came PCV 7 and then PCV 13. “In the public domain, it is expensive at ₹1,500-₹3,200. So it is a welcome thing that the government is administering it under the UIP,” said Dr Balasubramanian from Kanchi Kamakoti Childs Trust Hospital Tamil Nadu rolled out PCV programme in 2019 but only for babies with low birth weight. Later, it was extended to children who suffered from lung diseases and those who underwent cardiac surgeries.
