Cambodia applies for pneumonia vaccine

The Cambodian government has applied for funding for a pneumonia vaccine, reports Phnom Penh Post. The vaccine is expected to prevent 1,200 deaths in Cambodia every year. Some 30,000 children die before their fifth birthday each year in Cambodia, one in five os these deaths is caused by pneumonia reports Phnom Penh Post. Dr Varun Kumar, medical adviser at the Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) in Siem Reap, sais pneumonia is one of the top two diseases of kids admitted into the hospital.

Phnom Penh Post reports that Cambodia has applied to the GAVI Alliance, a public-private organisation, for funding to expand its National Immunisation Program to include a new vaccine against the Hib-bacteria that causes pneumonia, as well as several other infections. The GAVI Alliance was created in 2000 to improve access to immunisation in poor countries. Its partners include national governments, Unicef, WHO, the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the vaccine industry, and research and technical health institutions.


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