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Ministry of Health discontinues booster dose of BCG vaccine |25 October 2016

Starting January 2017, the Ministry of Health, in compliance with World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations, will be administering only one BCG vaccine injection for protection against tuberculosis, commonly known as TB.

The booster dose given to children of six years old will be discontinued.

Under the current Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI) children in Seychelles are given the BCG vaccine at birth and the booster dose at six years of age.

Research conducted by the WHO has allowed a revision of the recommendation for the administration of the vaccine, recognising that the BCG vaccine which is administered at birth provides adequate protection.

No cases of tuberculosis in children have been reported in Seychelles for the past 10 years. Vast investment in modern infrastructure, reduction in poverty, appropriate dwellings and adequate medical care have all contributed to this outcome.

Tuberculosis was declared a global emergency by the WHO in 1993 and the BCG vaccination remains the standard for TB prevention.

Sustainable Development Goal 3 calls for an end to the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030.

 

 

 

 

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