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An anti-tetanus shot for adolescents and pregnant women will now provide immunity against diphtheria, too.
The Union Health Ministry has written to all the States, saying the tetanus toxoid (TT) vaccine will be replaced with tetanus and adult diphtheria vaccine (Td).
Td supply will begin soon, said the Ministry. It has also directed the National Health Mission (NHM) directors of each State to prepare for the change.
“At present, TT booster doses are given at 10 and 16 years of age. Two doses of TT or a single booster dose are given to pregnant women. These will be replaced by Td vaccine towards the year-end. The States will need to plan for training of health workers, medical officers and programme managers for ensuring smooth implementation,” Vandana Gurnani, Joint Secretary for Reproductive and Child Health (RCH), wrote to all the mission directors. Businessline viewed the letter.
Unreported cases
The decision follows a June 28 joint communiqué of the WHO and Unicef that urged all countries that have not yet replaced TT with Td to do so immediately, and achieve complete replacement by January 2020. The shift to Td had been advocated from 1998 onwards, said the communiqué. While deaths due to tetanus infection are on the decline, surveillance for diphtheria is weak and cases may be going unreported, it added.
Unicef, strongly reiterated that from January 2020 it will no longer fund the TT vaccine; nor would it provide procurement services for its supply.
It also said that though the TT vaccine would still be available in the global market, countries that self-procure it will find the cost and lead-time increasing due to a decrease in demand for the vaccine.
Negligible difference
The price differential between TT and Td vaccines is negligible, said Unicef, especially if the same vial size (10- or 20-dose) is maintained. Also, the new vaccine has no known adverse effect on pregnant women, it added.
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