SENIOR officials from the Department of Health, World Health Organisation and United Nations Children’s Fund held a meeting at Parkroyal Hotel from October 24 to 27 to finalise a plan for immunisation in Myanmar from 2007 to 2011.

The meeting followed another meeting in June at which about 90 percent of the plan was drafted based on analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the previous plan and pending the gathering of more information for consideration in the 2007-2011 strategy.

The new plan is also intended to be financially sustainable and will include calculations of expected operating expenses and funding contributions from donors.

Dr Kyaw Nyunt Sein, deputy director general of the Department of Health, said the new plan is comprehensive and provides complete and safe immunisation for children for the next five years.

“The immunisation processes will reach their targets smoothly if we have a complete plan,” he said, adding that immunisation is important for children as most child diseases are preventable.

“Vaccines can prevent the incidence of disease as well as their consequences, such as malnutrition and developmental retardation,” he said.
Dr Than Htein Win, assistant director of the Health Department’s Expanded Program on Immunisation, said establishing the five-year plan in advance will benefit program officials and fund donors.

“The plan includes strengths, weaknesses, processes and strategies for the next five years, which will help to connect with donors, who can also choose which portions they are interested in contributing funding to,” he said.

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), based in Geneva, Switzerland, has been providing funding for Myanmar’s immunisation program but its five-year donation program will end next year.

“We need to present the plan for the next five years to GAVI ... so they can consider further funding,” Dr Than Htein Win said.

Myanmar’s first immunisation program – for tuberculosis, tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough – was launched by the Ministry of Health in 1978. It was expanded in 1987 to include polio and measles, while hepatitis B was added in 2002.

The new plan includes strategies for adding diseases to the immunisation program and a guide for medical officers at the grassroots level for conducting the plan effectively, Dr Than Htein Win said.

Ms Anne H. Vincent, chief of UNICEF’s Health and Nutrition Section, said before the meeting that officials would discuss what strategies should be used to improve immunisation campaigns in Myanmar.

She said one of the main challenges was keeping vaccines stored at cool temperatures in areas of the country without constant electricity supplies.

“Because of Myanmar’s extreme diversity of people, there are also communication difficulties in explaining to families why it is important to immunise their children,” she said.

She also said weather conditions make certain parts of the country difficult to access.

“This year, we faced a very bad rainy season so we could not provide proper immunisation services to some areas,” she said, adding that the new plan would seek to address these challenges.