Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will not increase the price of its pneumonia vaccines for the next 10 years.
The company said it took the decision to ensure that children do not die of the disease.
Pneumonia is the number one killer disease among chiodren under five.
According to the International Vaccines Access Centre’s (IVAC’s) preliminary findings launched in Abuja on the World’s Pneumonia Day, marked on November 12, an estimated 750,000 Nigerian children died largely from diseases last year. About 127,000 died of pneumonia.
The preventable and treatable disease claimed more lives last year compared to malaria, which used to be the number one child-killer disease in the country, last year.
GSK Medical Director Dr. Lana Odunuga said his organisation has placed a 10-year price freeze on pneumonia drugs as the country graduates from GAVI funds next year.
This, Odunuga said, is to ensure pneumonia vaccines are available to the people even after donor support is withdrawn.
He urged the government to be consistent with policies and programmes, stressing that the country was on the right path and there was need to sustain it.
He said: “I just want to emphasise that we need consistency in our programmes. We have done very well in our policy making; we have done very well in our coordination. So, it is just consistency and once we are consistent, we will get there. We need to start from somewhere and we are on a journey, we will get there.
“We are supporting the immunisation programme, we are providing the vaccines that are used for the prevention of pneumonia in children. And one of the things I highlighted as part of our own support is actually to make sure that even at a time when Nigeria graduates from GaVI fund, which will eventually happened, Nigeria will still be able to access the vaccines as the same price at which they are getting it now. In addition to that we have also tried to make it possible to reduce the cost a child pays for vaccines in Nigeria by one dollar. ”
He said GSK is to set up six centres across the country for the distribution of vaccines next year, blaming BokomHaram for the high incidencevof the disease. He stressed that the disruption of infrastructure led to displacement of people.
NPHCDA Acting Executive Director, Mr. Emmanuel Odu, noted that the Federal Government, in addressing pneumonia among children, introduced pentavalent vaccine.
He urged stakeholders to vaccinate their children against the disease.
The Emir of Jiwa, Alhaji Musa Idris, who was chairman on the occasion, assured that the traditional leaders would continue to mobilise their subjects towards eradicating pneumonia in rural.
He stressed, that as traditional rulers, they were committed to enlightening their people
International Vaccines Access Centre (IVAC) report stated: “Pneumonia is now the leading cause of child deaths in Nigeria, a position previously held by malaria over the years. In 2015, about 17 percent ( 127, 00 deaths) and 10 per cent (75,000) of all under-five deaths, including neonatal deaths were caused by pneumonia and diarrhea.”
