ACCESS

Donating more than one million vaccines to help Nicaraguan babies

In 2006, Merck, the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health, UNICEF and leading health organizations established a three-year partnership to provide free vaccinations against rotavirus gastroenteritis to all eligible infants born in Nicaragua. Through the partnership – called the Nicaraguan Rotavirus Vaccination Program – Merck expects to donate more than one million doses of ROTATEQ® (rotavirus vaccine, live, oral pentavalent) through the end of 2009, representing a $75 million commitment.

Before the program was initiated, hospitals in Nicaragua were overwhelmed each winter with infants and children suffering from the effects of rotavirus disease. Today, Nicaragua's rotavirus vaccination rates are among the highest in the world, with about 80 percent of eligible children vaccinated with ROTATEQ, and emergency rooms are no longer overwhelmed in winter.

Delivered the year it was launched

In the past, social and economic factors in developing countries meant the introduction of new vaccines took years. However, through this partnership, Nicaragua established a national rotavirus vaccination program that delivered ROTATEQ® to Nicaraguan children the same year it became available in more developed countries.

Future of the program

Merck and the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health are working to strengthen the country’s national rotavirus disease surveillance network and assess the public health benefit resulting from early adoption of ROTATEQ®. When the partnership ends this year, the rotavirus vaccination program will continue with support from the GAVI Alliance, a non-profit, global health organization.

What is rotavirus?

Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children. Worldwide, the virus causes more than two million hospitalizations each year and nearly 600,000 deaths among children under age 5 – approximately one child per minute. More than 80 percent of rotavirus-related deaths in children occur in developing countries, due in part to inadequate access to healthcare.