Cuba to Begin Vaccination Campaign against the AH1N1

Cuba’s Deputy Health Minister, Doctor Luis Estruch, told the press on Thursday that injectable dosis of Pandemrix -a vaccine developed in Belgium- have been donated by the World Health Organization, which allocated 10 million dollars for this purpose.

He announced that the first stage of the campaign will end on April 20 and will include pregnant women and women who have just given birth (all pregnant women registered at the moment of starting the campaign), regardless of the amount of months of pregnancy, and those who gave birth up to the 42nd day of their delivery.

Also vaccinated against the AH1N1 virus will be children of 6 months of age and above with risk factors due to chronic diseases or immune-depression (including children and teenagers under 18 years of age with cardiovascular malformations, blood diseases, cancer or cystic fibrosis).

Other groups to be immunized will be the disabled, transplant patients, insulin-dependent diabetic patients, people living with HIV, with chronic kidney failure, third degree asthmatics, and second degree asthmatics under 18 years of age.

The campaign also includes workers who give direct attention to schoolchildren, students at special education schools, and children at day care centers of 6 months of age or above, workers and patients of psychiatric hospitals, senior citizen homes and psycho- pedagogical centers or homes for the disabled.

Likewise, health workers linked to the treatment of people vulnerable to this disease and those at borders, ports, airports, civil aeronautics, and health tourism and high-performance athletes, among others.

During the second stage, from May 3rd through the 15th, the second dose will be
administered to children from 6 months to 9 years of age who received the first one.

During the meeting with the national press, officials from the Health Ministry explained the details of this campaign, which will be carried out by qualified personnel in an organized way at 498 of the country’s health areas.

Estruch insisted on the need on continuing preventive measures, in order to prevent infection with this virus, which has killed 17,000 people in the world so far.

Gilberto Espineira, an official from the Ideological Department of the Cuban Communist Party’s Central Committee, thanked the WHO for the donation and praised the role of the mass media in the promotion of preventive measures contributing to face this disease.