Reducing the cost burden on people
According to the Ministry of Health's Expanded Immunization Plan, the Rota-ged diarrhea vaccine will be deployed in the National Expanded Immunization Program to vaccinate children for free in 32 provinces from 2024 and expand to 41 provinces in 2025.
According to the Ministry of Health, Thai Nguyen is one of the first provinces to deploy Rota vaccination in the national expanded immunization program as planned, starting from December 2024.
On March 20, at Khe Mo Commune Health Station, Dong Hy District, Thai Nguyen Province, many children aged 2 - 6 months were given Rota vaccine for free.
Present at Khe Mo Commune Health Station, Dong Hy District, Thai Nguyen early, Ms. Trieu Thi Phuong (Long Giang Hamlet) gave her child a second dose of Rota.
"My child took the first dose when he was over a month old. Today, knowing that there was a second Rota vaccination program, I gave my child an early arrival. This vaccine is safe for children. The child's dosage did not have any reaction. Since taking the first dose of vaccine, my child has not had diarrhea," Ms. Phuong shared.
Ms. Duong Thi Huu (31 years old, Khe Mo commune) said that her children's free Rota vaccine helps the family reduce some of the economic burden.
"When having the first child, Rota vaccine was not included in the expanded immunization program, when asked at the service vaccination room, the price was 800,000 VND/dose, the vaccine dose was taken twice. This amount of money is quite a lot for a family in rural areas like me. When the second child arrived, this vaccine was given for free, it was lucky" - Ms. Huu said.
The goal of achieving over 96% of children using Rota vaccine
Doctor Vo Thi Manh Thuy, Deputy Head of Khe Mo Commune Health Station, said: As soon as the vaccine was received to the locality, in addition to carrying out conservation work in accordance with regulations, the station also communicated through the commune's communication system, through the health system of 13 villages in the locality about the program of having free Rota vaccine for children. In the first 2 months of 2025, 40 children have received Rota vaccine.
"rota vaccine helps prevent diarrhea caused by the Rota virus effectively. If they have the disease, children vaccinated will have a mild condition, easy to treat and control. There are many people in difficult circumstances in the area, and free vaccines will reduce the cost burden for people" - said Dr. Thuy.
Mr. Hoang Anh, Director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of Thai Nguyen said: Thai Nguyen province has 110 communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, the majority of people have their children vaccinated with vaccines under the Expanded Immunization Program. Rota vaccine included in the Free Expanded Immunization Program is an opportunity for children to be prevented from acute diarrhea caused by the Rota virus.
Thai Nguyen province started taking Rota vaccine from the fourth quarter of 2024. To date, the province has implemented Rota vaccination for more than 2,400 children, and more than 1,200 children have received 2 doses.
"The Rota vaccine implementation process is safe, no cases have been recorded that need special attention. In the coming time, Thai Nguyen province will continue to deploy Rota vaccination for about 17,000 children each year, with the goal of reaching over 96% of children using this vaccine," said Mr. Hoang Anh.
The expanded immunization program in our country has deployed 11 types of vaccines for free for children and pregnant women. Thanks to that, Vietnam has paid, eliminated and reduced the incidence and mortality rate due to dangerous infectious diseases in children such as Politics, neonatal tetanus, measles, rubella, diphtheria, whooping cough... contributing to significantly reducing health care costs and improving public health.
Acute diarrhea caused by the Rota virus is a dangerous infectious disease that is transmitted through the digestive tract, causing an epidemic and possibly causing death in children. In Vietnam, Rota virus is the cause of acute diarrhea in 20% to over 50% of children in the period 2016-2023.
It is estimated that the Rota virus causes hundreds of thousands of children to be hospitalized and thousands of children to receive emergency care each year, especially in remote areas, localities that have not yet had access to disease prevention vaccines in the service vaccination.
Currently, Rota vaccine has been domestically produced to ensure supply for the Expanded Immunization Program.
