Most Asian countries fail to include rotavirus vaccine in national immunization programs citing cost as barrier

"Most countries in Asia have yet to make the rotavirus vaccine part of their national immunization program (NIP), despite a World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation to do so," IRIN reports. "Worldwide, rotavirus accounts for 37 percent of all diarrhea deaths in children under five with 95 percent of those deaths occurring in developing countries," the news service states, noting, "There are no antibiotics or any other drug to fight the infection and since 2009 WHO has recommended the global use of the rotavirus vaccine." Forty-one countries worldwide include rotavirus vaccine in their NIPs, but "only two countries in Asia -- Philippines and Thailand -- are vaccinating (or are about to) children against rotavirus," according to IRIN. An email to IRIN from WHO's Manila office stated, "Price continues to be an important barrier to introducing rotavirus vaccine," the news service notes (9/7).