Wednesday, 27 March 2019

Typhoid conference sees experts dedicated to protect communities from disease

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Bernama) -- More than 450 researchers, policy-makers and advocates gathered at the 11th International Conference on Typhoid and Other Invasive Salmonelloses, beginning today, in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The three-day conference hosted by the Coalition against Typhoid, a programme of the Sabin Vaccine Institute (Sabin) is dedicated to improving the lives of young children and their families suffering from typhoid, paratyphoid and invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella.

From more than 40 countries, attendees discuss the latest research and strategies to take on enteric fever, with the goal of translating recent global advancements into local impact for prevention and control at the community level.

Typhoid continues to cause an estimated 11 million cases and more than 116,000 deaths annually, largely affecting children in low-income communities in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a statement.

“During the next three days, we will lay the groundwork for a coordinated prevention and control strategy to protect the millions of children who are mostly at risk of typhoid,” said Sabin chief executive officer, Amy Finan.

Since the last conference in 2017, significant strides in global policy have paved the way for accelerated progress against enteric fever, beginning with the World Health Organisation pre-qualifying and subsequently, recommending the use of typhoid conjugate vaccines.

Helping to ensure access to these vaccines for low-income countries, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance committed US$85 million (US$1 = RM4.07) in 2018, to support its introduction whereby, countries have begun to submit applications for Gavi support for routine immunisation.

The agenda for the 11th International Conference on Typhoid and Other Invasive Salmonelloses is available at http://www.coalitionagainsttyphoid.org.

-- BERNAMA

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