Africa-Press – Uganda. In a bid to maximise vaccine effectiveness, Uganda Virus Institute (UVRI) in conjunction with other local and international partners, has launched the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), a global health research group on vaccines for vulnerable people in Africa (VAnguard) project at Entebbe.
Prof Pontiano Kaleebu, the Director of UVRI, said the Vanguard project is aimed at strengthening collaborations between national and international stakeholders in the identification of social and biological factors that impair vaccine impact in African communities, to develop integrated strategies and recommendations to optimize vaccine impact and to contribute to health equity in Africa.
“There are many factors that affect vaccine response, uptake and roll-out, which renders the research pertinent in providing an opportunity to consider all the factors to address them in order to have effective vaccines that are accessible by the communities,” he said.
The other local and international partners in the vaccine research include; Makerere University, Uganda Christian University, KEMRI, Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Oxford University, Cambridge University, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
The Vanguard Project Coordinator, Prof Alison Elliott said vaccines are among the most useful interventions in public health that have saved many lives. She said the implementation of the programme starts in Uganda and Kenya.
“The problem is that some vaccines have been observed to be better in some communities than others due to biological and social reasons so we have to put heads together to ensure the communities get the best out of the vaccines,” she said adding that the three-year project will cost about 3 million pounds (Shs13.6 billion).
The project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) using aid from the UK government to support global health research.
Dr Alfred Driwale, Assistant Commissioner of Health Services in charge of Vaccines & Immunization in the Ministry of Health urged UVRI to study the constraints, which impede the health sector from meeting their targets in relation to vaccines.
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