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PRESS RELEASE
 
MSD is Advocating for the World Immunization Week in Africa
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This year, the African Vaccination Week will be celebrated from 22 to 27 Aprilunder the theme –“Vaccination – a shared responsibilityâ€
 
NAIROBI, Kenya,April 24, 2014/ – MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme) (http://http://www.merck.com) reiterates today its support to the World Immunization Week, an annual initiative launched by World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners to celebrate and promote immunization through acts of raising awareness, education and communication.
Logo:Â http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/msd.jpg
Photo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1017 (Dr. Soren Bo Christiansen, President of MSD’s Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region)
This year, the African Vaccination Week will be celebrated from 22 to 27 April under the theme –“Vaccination – a shared responsibilityâ€. . It aims at highlighting the role and importance of everyone to fight against the vaccine-preventable diseases such as pertussis, measles, tetanus, diphtheria, influenza, rotavirus diarrhea, pneumonia, viral hepatitis and cancers associated with HPV (cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers). .
The efficacy of vaccines and their impact on public health are no longer questioned. They have contributed to the prevention of more than 25 circulating infectious diseases and have allowed avoiding a large number of long-term handicaps1. Likewise, the number of spared deaths each year is estimated at about 2 to 3 millions every year2 thanks to immunization. However, despite the progress in Africa, many challenges remain. The advantages of vaccination should be extended beyond children to include teenagers and adults, hence to provide protection against deadly diseases such as , meningitis, diarrhea or even cancers associated with HPV (cervical cancer and ano-genital cancers). In Africa, a woman dies every 8 hours because of cancer, deaths that we can avoid today thanks to early immunization3.
Vaccination against Human Papilloma Virus infections (human papillomavirus)
Human Papillomaviruses (HPV) are viruses that are quite common as they may infect skin and mucous membranes 4. Researchers distinguish more than 100 genotypes of papillomavirus, of which 40 may infect genitals and 13 are recognized as oncogenes 4.
HPV infection is one of the most common4 Sexually Transmitted Infections
(STI): at least half of sexually active individuals encounter HPV during their lifetime4. Any sexual contact is associated with a risk of infection4. Having a cutaneous and mucosal transmissive nature, HPV infection might occur despite condom use; hence vaccination proves to be important 4.
Today, there are two vaccines against HPV:the bivalent vaccine targeting the two main oncogenes HPV types (16 and 18) and a the quadrivalent vaccine targeting HPV type 6 &11 (responsible for 90% of the cases of genital warts (1)) and HPV type 16 and 18 which cause 70% of cervical cancers, 40% to 50% of vulva cancer, 70% of vagina cancers (2) and 95% of anus cancers (3).
The World Immunization Week is the perfect occasion to shed light on the tremendous progress achieved in terms of immunization and to draw attention to cancers induced by viral infections such as HPV infections (uterus and vulva cancers) which can be henceforth prevented rather than cured. Likewise, it is an opportunity to stress the importance of integrating such type of vaccines in our national public health programs.
“MSD is proud to support World Immunization Week in Africa, which provides an important opportunity to raise awareness about the public health impact of vaccination,†said Dr. Soren Bo Christiansen, President of MSD’s Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Vaccines are one of the greatest public health stories in history, and MSD has played its part in that story. For more than 50 years, our scientists have helped prevent now-rare diseases such as measles and mumps, as well as diseases never thought preventable such as shingles and cervical cancer. Our commitment to protecting human health by ensuring availability and accessibility of vaccines is vital to our mission as a company.â€
With the participation of more than 180 countries, territories and regions around the globe, the World Immunization Week aims at issuing a reminder that vaccines help fight a large number of infectious diseases and calls for action to improve immunization coverage for all age individuals.
Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme).
Media Contact:
MSD, Khalid Baddou
Email:Â Khalid.Baddou@Merck.com
About MSD
MSD (http://http://www.merck.com), today (known as Merck in the United States and Canada) is a global health leader, committed to help the world live better. MSD is a commercial name of Merck & Co., Inc., the headquarters of which are located in Whitehouse Station, NJ, United States. Thanks to our medicines, vaccines, biological therapeutics, consumer and animal health products, we collaborate with our clients and work in more than 140 countries to provide innovative health solutions. Likewise, we prove our determination to improve access to health care thanks to policies, programs and partnerships of high caliber.
To learn more, please visit  http://http://www.merck.com
References
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World Health Organization, UNICEF, World Bank. State of the world’s vaccines and immunization. 3rd edition. Geneva 2009. 2. World Health Organization. Immunization. Available at:  http://www.who.int/gho/immunization/en/index.html – Accessed February 2013World Health Organization. The International Agency for Cancer Research. GLOBOCAN 2008 Fast Stats Factsheet – Summary of “Cancer incidence and mortality worldwide in 2008â€. Available online on:http://globocan.iarc.fr/factsheets/cancers/cervix.asp
4. Eileen F. Dunne, Elizabeth R. Unger, Maya Sternberg, Geraldine McQuillan, David C. Swan, Sonya S. Patel, Lauri E. Markowitz. Prevalence of HPV infection among females in the United States, JAMA. 2007;297:813-819
(1) aStudy Design: Six placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized phase 2 and 3 clinical studiesb evaluated the efficacy of GARDASIL in girls and women 16 to 45 years of age and boys and men 16 to 26 years of age at enrollment. Efficacy was measured after 1 month postdose 3, with median duration of follow-up from 3 to 4 years. Subjects received vaccine or placebo on the day of enrollment, and 2 and 6 months thereafter. Subjects received all 3 doses within 1 year of enrollment, had no major deviations from the study protocol, and were enrolled regardless of baseline HPV status, but were counted only in the analysis of the type(s) for which they were naïve at enrollment and through 1 month postdose 3.
bThe first phase 2 study evaluated the HPV 16 component of GARDASIL (n=2,391 girls and women), and the second evaluated all 4 components of GARDASIL (n=551 girls and women). Three phase 3 studies, called FUTURE, evaluated GARDASIL in 5,442 (FUTURE I), 12,157 (FUTURE II), and 3,817 (FUTURE III) girls and women. A fourth phase 3 study evaluated GARDASIL in 4,055 boys and men
(2) ~40% to 50% of vulvar cancer cases2,3
~70% of vaginal cancer cases3
2. Hampl M et al. Obstet Gynecol. 2006;108(6):1361–1368. 3. Insinga RP et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008;17(7):1611–1622.
(3)Â http://www.cdc.gov/hpv/cancer.html
Joseph DA, Miller JW, Wu X, et al. Understanding the burden of human papillomavirus-associated anal cancers in the US. Cancer.
2008;113(10 suppl):2892-2900
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