神马文学网Donating more than one million vaccines to he...
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Donating more than one million vaccines to help Nicaraguan babies
- Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 9:44
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In 2006, Merck, the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health, UNICEF and leading health organizations established a three-year partnership to provide free vaccinations against rotavirus gastroenteritis to all eligible infants born in Nicaragua. Through the partnership – called the Nicaraguan Rotavirus Vaccination Program – Merck expects to donate more than one million doses of ROTATEQ® (rotavirus vaccine, live, oral pentavalent) through the end of 2009, representing a $75 million commitment.
Before the program was initiated, hospitals in Nicaragua were overwhelmed each winter with infants and children suffering from the effects of rotavirus disease. Today, Nicaragua’s rotavirus vaccination rates are among the highest in the world, with about 80 percent of eligible children vaccinated with ROTATEQ, and emergency rooms are no longer overwhelmed in winter.