Vaccine maker, Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL), has introduced in Nigeria its oral rotavirus vaccine, Rotavac, for the immunization of children against life-threatening diarrheic disease.

The firm said this would save 50,000 children from dying from rotavirus infection that causes fatalities of children under the age of five every year in the country.

According to reports, Nigeria accounts for 14 per cent of all childhood rotavirus deaths globally, making it the country with the second-highest number of rotavirus deaths globally.

It was also claimed that rotavirus infection causes about 50,000 child fatalities under the age of five each year in Nigeria.

Chairman and Managing Director, Dr Krishna Ella noted that novel vaccines from India are saving lives globally, adding that Rotavac was safe and effective.

Ella said Rotavac is now available in several countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

“Rotavirus is one of the leading causes of diarrheal disease and is responsible for over 40 per cent of diarrhea in children. It accounts for 215,000 of the 525,000 under-five mortality worldwide each year that are attributed to diarrheal diseases, making it the most common cause of severe diarrhoea,” Bharat Biotech said in a statement on Friday.

The statement noted that data on Rotovac had been published in over 20 international publications, including the phase III results that were published in Lancet in 2014.

It noted that the project was funded by the Indian government, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Research Council of Norway, UK DFID, and Bharat Biotech.

“The vaccine, developed by Bharat Biotech under the public-private partnership mode along with the department of biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, and 16 other international partners, received World Health Organisation (WHO) pre-qualification in January 2018. It was developed over three decades and is touted as one of the largest social innovation projects for public health.

“Top Indian research institutions such as the Indian Council of Medical Research, Indian Institute of Science (IISC), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Translational Health Sciences and Technology Institute (THSTI), Society for Applied Studies (SAS), Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore, King Edwards Memorial Hospital (KEM) Pune, Stanford University School of Medicine, US National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Johns Hopkins University and PATH were part of the development process,” the statement added. (The Nation)

Update news