Nigeria introduces Bharat Biotech’s Rotavac vaccine for immunisation in children

Bharat Biotech International yesterday announced its rotavirus oral vaccine Rotavac has been introduced by Nigeria to immunise its children from the diarrhoeal disease.

Nigeria currently accounts for 14 per cent of all childhood rotavirus deaths globally, making it the country with the second-highest number of rotavirus deaths in the world. Rotavirus infection causes about 50,000 child fatalities under the age of five each year in Nigeria, Bharat Biotech International said in a statement.

Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech, said in the statement, “Decades of research and product development have resulted in Rotavac. This vaccine is now available in several countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East….”

Rotavirus is one of the leading causes of diarrhoeal disease in the world and is responsible for over 40 per cent of diarrhoea in children. It accounts for about 215,000 of the 525,000-under-five mortality worldwide each year that are attributed to diarrhoeal diseases, making it the most common cause of severe diarrhoea.

Rotavac received WHO-prequalification in January 2018. Bharat Biotech developed the first generation, rotavirus vaccine, Rotavac under a Public-Private Partnership with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and 16 other international partners, making it the largest ever social innovation project for public health, added the statement.