Meeting highlights regional progress in the fight against serious childhood infections

The meeting debated recent advances in the areas of World Health Organisation guidelines, vaccine development, national immunisation programs and the impact of pharmacoeconomics (cost benefit), on populations across the Middle East. Wyeth representatives from the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, KSA, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar attended the three-day meeting.

Pneumococcal disease is a leading cause of serious illness in children and adults throughout the world. The disease is caused by a common bacterium, the pneumococcus, which can attack different parts of the body, which may lead to diseases such as meningitis, otitis media (ear infection), pneumonia, sinusitis and bacteremia.

"Pneumonia is the leading cause of infant death, killing around four million children around the world each year. S. pneumoniae, the leading bacteria causing pneumonia, causes around 1.2 million pneumonia deaths annually, making it a number one killer. It is also a leading cause of bacterial meningitis among children under five," comments, Dr Baher Massoud, Medical Director Middle East and North Africa, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Mark Fletcher, Director, International Scientific and Clinical Affairs, Wyeth Vaccines Research, presented new global data on the success of immunisation programmes targeted at preventing pneumococcal infections. Dr. Fletcher, adds, "National Immunisation Programs (NIPs) have led to a dramatic decrease in morbidity and mortality rates and have become one of today's most successful and cost-effective public health strategies to ensure access to the pneumococcal vaccine. The inclusion of the vaccine in national immunisation programs such as in Qatar is a positive step in reducing the incidence of the disease in the region."

Vincent Ciuryla, Senior Director, Global Health Outcome Assessment, USA, presented results clearly indicating that vaccines are among the most cost-effective medical interventions today and can lead to a dramatic decrease in both the direct and indirect cost associated with pneumococcal disease.

"When we look at the economics of pneumococcal infection, the direct costs can be significant. They include expenditures for a wide range of medical products and services such as hospitalisation, outpatient services (clinic and emergency room visits), physicians' professional fees, prescription and OTC medicines, diagnostic tests as well as long-term care and home health care," he explained.