AnursevaccinatesachildinaclinicinHefeiCityinAnhuiProvinceKeepingyoungchildrenhealthycanbechallengingatthebestoftimes,asLiHaijie,a34-year-oldmotheroftwoknowsonlytoowell.Forexample,tohaveherfirstchildvaccinated,shehadtoqueueforhoursinacrowded,noisyroom,inherhometownofJining,ineastChina鈥檚ShandongProvince.
鈥淏utbythetimeIhadmysecondchildvaccinated,serviceshadreallyimprovedthankstonewtechnologies.IcannowbookmyappointmentontheInternet.Whenthedoctorscansmychildren鈥檚vaccinationcards,hehasaccesstoalloftheirinformation,makingthewholeprocessclearandfast.Itsavesparentsalotoftimeandenergy,鈥漵hesaidtoQiluEveningNews.
healthclinics,aprogramthatshouldcoverallclinicsinthecitybytheendof2018.Meanwhile,thevaccinationratehasreachedmorethan90percent,comparedto70percentin1978,whentheplannedchildhoodvaccinationprogramwasexpandednationally.
Betterandsafervaccines
Thisyearmarksthe40thanniversaryoftheimplementationofnationalplannedvaccinationprograminChina.鈥淥verthislongperiod,serviceshaveprogressivelyimproved.Today,Chinahasnearly200,000inoculationunitsthatcarryoutvaccinationtasksaccordingtothenationalpolicies,鈥漵aidWangHuaqing,aseniorimmunizationexpertoftheChineseCenterforDiseaseControlandPrevention.
Newinformationtechnologieshaveproventobeagoodtooltoimproveservices.JiningCenterforDiseaseControlandPreventionmakesfulluseoftheInternettofacilitateimmunizationwork.Itswebsiteoffersrelatedinformationandappointmentbookingservicestoavoidlongwaittime.鈥淚nadditiontodigitalizedclinics,medicalrefrigeratorsarenowusedtostorevaccinesinsteadofhouseholdrefrigerators.Moreover,immunizationcentersnowofferabetterenvironment,whichwasnotthecasebefore,鈥漵aidZuoShuyan,anofficialfromtheWorldHealthOrganization(WHO)ChinaOffice.
Increasedgovernmentfundingisanimportantfactorinensuringthesafetyofvaccines.AccordingtoChineseGovernmentfigures,in2017,thecountryinvested3.56billionyuan($559million)intheimmunizationprogram.InJining,thelocalgovernmentinvested3.84millionyuan($603,000)overthelastthreeyearstoupgradestorageandrefrigeratedtransportfacilitiesinthecity鈥檚inoculationunits.Inaddition,electronicdeviceshavebeeninstalledtocontrolthetemperatureofcold-chainequipmentandensurethatvaccinesstaysafeandeffective.
Chinalauncheditsvaccinationprograminthe1950sandnationalplannedvaccinationprogramfrom1978to2001.Theexpandedvaccinationprogramthathasbeenimplementedfrom2001onwardseesthevaccinationratecontinuetoincrease,reaching90percentnow.鈥淭hishighratehascreatedasafetynettoeffectivelypreventandcontrolanumberofcontagiousdiseases,suchashepatitisBamongchildren,鈥漌angsaid,addingthatChinapassedWHO鈥檚assessmentonitsnationalvaccinationregulatorysystemin2011andagainin2014,whichnotonlyhelpsensuringvaccinesafety,butalsoenablesexportofmade-in-Chinavaccines.
Servingglobalhealth
ParentsandchildrentakepartinavacinationpromotioneventinHefeiinAnhuiProvinceUpto2017,only43countriescouldproducevaccinescertifiedforexport.Ofthese,25countries-includingChina-manufactured90percentofthevaccinesusedworldwide.ButforChina,makingsuchacontributionhasnotcomeeasy.
China鈥檚nationalregulatoryauthorityforvaccinesfirsthadtopasstheWHO鈥檚assessment,whichusesindependenttoolsandexpertpanelstoperiodicallyevaluateeachcountry鈥檚regulatoryauthority.鈥淎functionalnationalregulatoryauthorityistheprerequisitefortheUNagenciestobuyvaccinesfromChinaforothercountriesasneeded.It鈥檚averystrictprocess,鈥漞xplainedZuo.
In2011and2014,WHOtwiceconfirmedthatChina鈥檚vaccinationregulatoryauthorityhadmetitsstandards,whichmeansthatvaccinesproducedbyChinesecompaniesaresafeandeffective.However,forpharmaceuticalcompaniestoexportvaccines,theystillhavetoundergotheWHOprequalification(PQ)process.
鈥淐hinahasinvestedalotintheinnovationofitsbiomedicaltechniquesandmedicalproducts.WehopethatChineseinnovationcanincreaseourcontributiontoglobalhealth,鈥漵aidDuHeng,SeniorProgramOfficerattheBill&MelindaGatesFoundationChinaOffice.
Sheaddedthatglobalhealthstillneededinvestmenttodealwithcontagiousdiseases,suchastuberculosis,HIV/AIDS,Malariaandneglectedtropicaldiseases.AlthoughcontagioustropicaldiseasesarenolongeramongtheprioritiesofChina,shehopesthatChinesecompanieswillnonethelessstrengthentheirR&Deffortsinthisareainordertohelpothercountriesinneed.
ThefirstChinesevaccinethathaspassedtheWHOPQassessmentwastheJapaneseEncephalitisvaccinein2013.ThisvaccinehasbeenusedintheChinesemarketsince1988,whereitissoldatamuchmoreaffordablepricethantheequivalenceproducedinothercountries.Theassessmentprocessofthevaccinestartedin2005andlastedeightyears.Asof2017,morethan400milliondoseshadbeenshippedoutsideofChina,mostofwhichtoSoutheastAsianandSouthAsiancountries.InLaosalone,1.5millionchildrenwerevaccinatedagainstJapaneseEncephalitisin2015.
Sofar,fourvaccinesmadeinChinahavepassedPQassessment,includingthebivalentoralpoliovirusvaccinein2017.TheUnitedNationsChildren鈥檚Fundhaspurchased70milliondosesofthisvaccine,i.e.20millionfor2018and50millionfor2019.Thisismajorsteptowarderadicatingpoliovirusglobally.
鈥淭hroughtheprocessof[WHOPQassessment],China鈥檚productioncapacityandvaccinequalityhaveimprovedalot.Childrenalsobenefit.It鈥檚awin-winsituation,鈥漵aidDu.
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