Implementing rotavirus vaccination in Asia

At the 2006 meeting of the Asian Pacific Pediatric Association (APPA), the Asia Pacific regional rotavirus community and international experts strongly recommended that rotavirus vaccines be used in National Immunization Programmes (NIP) in countries in Asia. Two rotavirus vaccine candidates are currently licensed and have been demonstrated to be safe, well tolerated and highly efficacious. Several additional vaccines are in the late stages of development. The conference participants agreed that decisions on the introduction of rotavirus vaccines may require additional disease burden data in some countries and that economic evaluations will help policymakers reach decisions on nationwide rotavirus vaccine implementation. Other potential issues that arise with vaccine implementation, for example, the concomitant use of rotavirus vaccines with other vaccines, were also discussed. Rotavirus vaccines have the potential to substantially reduce morbidity and mortality from rotavirus disease and impact children's health in Asia.