Pretoria - With close to 166 500 children vaccinated since the pneumonia vaccination campaign started in February, the Gauteng Health Department is this month stepping up the campaign to reach even more children in the province.
"Nurses from the provincial office will be joining the campaign in hospitals to assist with the vaccination. Children recovering from surgery, those infected with HIV and others will be covered," said department spokesperson Simon Zwane.
Zwane highlighted that a total of 455 children were admitted to various hospitals in March this year, a reduction when compared to the 594 that were admitted in the same period last year.
Pneumonia is a common illness and a major cause of death among children and the campaign aims to reduce the number of children dying from the disease.
Gauteng has seen a decrease in the incidence of pneumonia in children under the age of five from 60.2 per 1 000 in 2009 to 57.3 per 1 000 in 2011.
Children from the age of 18 months to below 6 years (71 months) are eligible for vaccination regardless of their state of health.
