Will Azerbaijan offer chickenpox vaccinations?
By Aygul Salmanova
It is possible that a few years later, vaccination against chickenpox will be incorporated into vaccination program. Currently, however, this issue is not in the agenda Deputy Director of the Republican Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health Afag Aliyeva told Trend.
She noted that meanwhile, there is no increase in the number of chickenpox outbreaks in the country.
“The situation with this disease is stable, because it belongs to the group of non-vaccinated diseases in Azerbaijan. We have not issued vaccinations against this disease in Azerbaijan as vaccines are used for the most important, more serious diseases. Chickenpox is not a severe disease,” she said.
Vaccines to protect children from chickenpox are given at one year of age.
Chickenpox, also called varicella, is characterized by itchy red blisters that appear all over the body. It often affects children, and was so common it was considered a childhood rite of passage.
It’s very rare to have the chickenpox infection more than once. And since the chickenpox vaccine was introduced in the mid-1990s, cases have declined.
Vaccination is considered to be one of the greatest contributions of medicine to reduce global child mortality.
The government of Azerbaijan takes steps in order to ensure public health protection and well-being of the people.
Purchase of vaccines in the country is provided at high level, every area and region in the country has its own vaccination stations. Vaccination in the country is run within the national immunization schedule. The Health Ministry uses electronic services to provide citizens with the information about the schedule of immunization. Vaccines are imported into Azerbaijan through UNICEF since 2014.
Children in Azerbaijan are currently vaccinated against 11 infectious diseases. These include Hepatitis B (jaundice), tuberculosis and poliomyelitis pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, poliomyelitis, and Hepatitis B, poliomyelitis. Additionally, the government is planning to introduce vaccination programs against chicken pox, meningitis and rotaviral infection in the future.
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