12 Apr A Vaccine for the Very Young Takes Aim at Bacterial Diseases
Posted at 14:36h
in News
Donald G. McNeil, Jr., NYTimes
With help from international donors, Congo introduced a new vaccine this month in an effort to save more of its babies from pneumococcal disease.
The donors and the country’s health minister, Dr. Victor Makwenge Kaput, acknowledged that the success will be hard to achieve. Congo is one of Africa’s largest and poorest countries. Vast stretches lack not just electricity and refrigeration, but paved roads. It has the world’s second-highest rate of infant mortality (after Chad). Its eastern provinces are convulsed by fighting that mixes local tribal hostilities, rival Hutu and Tutsi militias from Rwanda, warlord armies and efforts to control areas containing diamonds and other minerals.