Zambia

Advocacy toolkit launched to help Health Ministries spread the word about vaccination against measles and rubella in developing countries.

Following a successful pilot program delivering rotavirus vaccines as part of an integrated approach to diarrhoea prevention and control, in November 2013, Zambia rolled out GAVI-supported rotavirus vaccines nationwide. Rotavirus, the most common cause of severe and fatal diarrhoea in young children worldwide, takes the lives of over 3,600 Zambian children under five each year and accounts for approximately 40 percent of all under-five diarrhoeal deaths and hospitalisations. Zambia is the 18th GAVI-eligible country to introduce rotavirus vaccines in its national immunisation program. (credit VITAC-PATH)

Pneumonia remains the single biggest killer of children under five globally, claiming the lives of more than one million girls and boys every year. But pneumonia deaths are preventable. As countries mark World Pneumonia Day on 12 November, the GAVI Alliance, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) are highlighting essential actions that can help end child deaths from this disease.