PharmaJet , WHO and BMGF conduct Somalia Polio Vaccination Campaign

 PharmaJet® the maker of innovative, needle-free injection technology, today announced that its Tropis® intradermal needle-free injection system is being used in a campaign in Somalia delivering inactivated polio vaccine to more than 110,000 children. The purpose of the campaign, funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, using PharmaJet’s needle-free delivery product, supplied by the World Health Organization (WHO), is to ensure children under 5 who missed their routine immunization, receive their full regimen of inactivated polio vaccine. A second dose will be given with the PharmaJet Topis device after one month.

The PharmaJet needle-free system was chosen for the Somalia campaign because the published data1 demonstrated improved coverage and user preferences. Additionally, fractional dose delivery, enabled by Tropis, provides a cost-saving alternative to traditional delivery methods and can extend limited stocks. PharmaJet experts provided a Training of Trainers education seminar in Mogadishu in early September to build a pool of competent instructors from the Somalia Ministry of Health, WHO, and UNICEF who then trained regional healthcare leaders throughout the campaign regions.

In Somaliland, 100% of responses from caregivers surveyed reported they would be more likely to bring their child for vaccination in a future campaign that used needle-free injectors, citing the child’s positive response to needle-free vaccination as the main reason. Of the healthcare workers surveyed, 100% said that using needle-free injectors could increase vaccination rates.

Chris Cappello, President and CEO, PharmaJet, said, “We are pleased to be part of the polio immunization efforts in Somalia to eradicate this terrible disease. Our field experience in Pakistan showed a strong preference for the PharmaJet Tropis system, citing ease and speed of use, and children’s response to the vaccination with less crying and discomfort. Importantly, mean vaccine coverage showed a nearly 20% increase over previous campaigns when using the PharmaJet system.”

Learn more in the PharmaJet press release.

Categories: Ecosystem News