Haufiku eyes Chinese hepatitis E vaccine
Namibia's hepatitis E response team led by Dr Bernard Haufiku hope to be given the green light to introduce a vaccine from China in a bid to curb the continuing increase in new infections across Namibia.
“It's a targeted pilot intervention to confirm the effectiveness of the hepatitis E vaccine in our setting,” Haufiku explained yesterday.
Over the past month new infections rose by 168, from 6 974 suspected and laboratory-confirmed cases in mid-December to 7 142 by 12 January.
The number of fatalities has remained at 59 as of mid-December, of which 24 were maternal deaths. Since the outbreak erupted more than two years ago, hepatitis E has become the leading cause of maternal death in the country.
Haufiku, the national hepatitis E campaign coordinator, confirmed that in December his team submitted a protocol for a hepatitis E vaccination intervention to the health ministry, where an ethics committee would decide whether to approve it.
The vaccine was tested in China, where it is manufactured and currently in use, he said.
Haufiku said if approved, the small-scale pilot intervention would be closely monitored.
It would be launched in the hardest-hit informal settlements of Windhoek, the epicentre of the outbreak.
Multi-pronged approach
The health ministry's director of health information and research, Philomena Ochurus, yesterday confirmed that the protocol was under review, both locally and by external experts.
She said they expected to complete the review and give feedback to Haufiku by next week.
Haufiku stressed that a vaccine, if approved, must be viewed as an additional strategy to bring the outbreak under control.
The underlying issues fuelling the outbreak, mainly lack of sanitation, clean water and personal hygiene, still needed to be addressed, he said.
“Unless we address sanitation issues, provide water to people in informal settlements and get personal hygiene right, we will continue to battle the hepatitis E outbreak in Namibia. My fear of it becoming endemic remains.”
Haufiku said the vaccine proposal should be urgently considered.
“We only hope that it will be cleared soonest so that we can start with the deployment in targeted areas in Windhoek's informal settlements such as Moses Gariseb and Samora Machel.”
He explained that the protocol was submitted with the support of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and other stakeholders. Haufiku said MSF probably had the most experience with hepatitis E outbreaks in Africa and vaccine deployment. “They did this in Sudan and other parts of the world.”
The possible use of a vaccine as part of a multi-pronged intervention strategy has been discussed since last year.
Haufiku said in August that the protracted outbreak required multiple interventions.
“I am personally of the view that we must now consider other available measures and options and perhaps do so rather fast if we really want to bring hepatitis E outbreak under control.”
At the time Haufiku said the situation “simply cannot be allowed to continue as it is now.”
He added that a new vaccine would be carefully introduced to ensure its safety and efficacy.
JANA-MARI SMITH
“It's a targeted pilot intervention to confirm the effectiveness of the hepatitis E vaccine in our setting,” Haufiku explained yesterday.
Over the past month new infections rose by 168, from 6 974 suspected and laboratory-confirmed cases in mid-December to 7 142 by 12 January.
The number of fatalities has remained at 59 as of mid-December, of which 24 were maternal deaths. Since the outbreak erupted more than two years ago, hepatitis E has become the leading cause of maternal death in the country.
Haufiku, the national hepatitis E campaign coordinator, confirmed that in December his team submitted a protocol for a hepatitis E vaccination intervention to the health ministry, where an ethics committee would decide whether to approve it.
The vaccine was tested in China, where it is manufactured and currently in use, he said.
Haufiku said if approved, the small-scale pilot intervention would be closely monitored.
It would be launched in the hardest-hit informal settlements of Windhoek, the epicentre of the outbreak.
Multi-pronged approach
The health ministry's director of health information and research, Philomena Ochurus, yesterday confirmed that the protocol was under review, both locally and by external experts.
She said they expected to complete the review and give feedback to Haufiku by next week.
Haufiku stressed that a vaccine, if approved, must be viewed as an additional strategy to bring the outbreak under control.
The underlying issues fuelling the outbreak, mainly lack of sanitation, clean water and personal hygiene, still needed to be addressed, he said.
“Unless we address sanitation issues, provide water to people in informal settlements and get personal hygiene right, we will continue to battle the hepatitis E outbreak in Namibia. My fear of it becoming endemic remains.”
Haufiku said the vaccine proposal should be urgently considered.
“We only hope that it will be cleared soonest so that we can start with the deployment in targeted areas in Windhoek's informal settlements such as Moses Gariseb and Samora Machel.”
He explained that the protocol was submitted with the support of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and other stakeholders. Haufiku said MSF probably had the most experience with hepatitis E outbreaks in Africa and vaccine deployment. “They did this in Sudan and other parts of the world.”
The possible use of a vaccine as part of a multi-pronged intervention strategy has been discussed since last year.
Haufiku said in August that the protracted outbreak required multiple interventions.
“I am personally of the view that we must now consider other available measures and options and perhaps do so rather fast if we really want to bring hepatitis E outbreak under control.”
At the time Haufiku said the situation “simply cannot be allowed to continue as it is now.”
He added that a new vaccine would be carefully introduced to ensure its safety and efficacy.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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