Vaccines for Africa website launched

Informative: The IIDMM has launched the Vaccines for Africa website.

The Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IIDMM) at UCT has launched an African-based website, Vaccines for Africa, to increase awareness and promote the uptake of vaccines in Africa.

This forms part of IIDMM director, Professor Gregory Hussey's Vaccinology Initiative.

The initiative's vision is an Africa free of vaccine-preventable diseases, explained Hussey.

"There needs to be a co-ordinated advocacy effort from within Africa to change this, and much of this is about access to information."

The site aims to be an interactive forum for the exchange of accurate, up-to-date and evidence-based information on vaccines and immunisation practices relevant to Africa. It also serves as a resource for health professionals, policy-makers, programme managers, and the general public.

The initial focus of the site will be on Rotavirus, as many African countries are to start rolling out vaccines in their Expanded Programme on Immunisation to stop the most common cause of severe dehydrating diarrhoea in young children.

To comment on the site, contact Dr Charles Shey Wiysonge.