NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Dar Essalam —The Tanzanian government yesterday celebrated the introduction of two vaccines to protect children against pneumonia and diarrhea and announced that it has been declared free of maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT), one of the world’s major causes of deaths in mothers and newborns.

During a ceremony held at a health center in the capital, Dar es Salam, the first lady of Tanzania Mama Salma Kikwete administered a vaccine against rotavirus.

The virus causes diarrhea, leading to severe dehydration, and is the number three killer of children under five in the country.

A health worker then injected a baby with the pneumococcal vaccine, which is expected to prevent a significant proportion of pneumonia cases, the number two killer of children in Tanzania.

Malaria is the number one killer of children in the country and so far there is no vaccine to fight it.