‘Typhoid will soon be eradicated in Nigeria’

A vaccinologist and innovator of Typhoid  Conjugate Vaccine (TVC) that gives a potential lifespan protection, Dr. Simon Magaji Agwale, has said that Nigeria would soon be certified a typhoid-free society.

Giving this assurance during the launch of Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TVC), in Abuja recently, Agwale revealed that based on available studies, there was resistance to typhoid drugs in circulation, hence their inability to cure the ailment.

Agwale said: “The present vaccine does not protect children below two years. It’s efficacy is about 55 per cent. So if 100 people are vaccinated, only 55 per cent can be protected. Science is about filling up gaps and making innovations. So the vaccine is a combination of vaccine to form a conjugate. This practice will break the limitations.

“This type of vaccine has the ability to protect for life, instead of three years as being the norm in single vaccines. It has more than 90 per cent efficacy. With the single vaccine, kids were protected against the disease but now, we are talking about its eradication. Everybody that gets a shot is protected for life.

“Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine is the surest way to eradicate typhoid through vaccination.”

He disclosed that the need to ensure total eradication of typhoid in Nigeria and the world at large informed the production of the vaccine, which according to him, has an efficacy of over 90 per cent, and once taken, it protects for life .

Agwale who is the founder and CEO of Innovative Biotech Ltd Keffi, Nasarawa  State and Innovative Biotech USA Inc, said, “If you take care of typhoid, you have taken care of  50 per cent of hospitalisation,” while explaining  that Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) is a combination of more than one vaccine.

He added that research and statistics had shown that a single dose of the vaccine is effective in the prevention of the disease.

“There is a concerted effort at eradicating typhoid in Nigeria, as TCV has been embraced by some state governments, and I am optimistic that, like other interventions for life-threatening dieases, such as HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and Polio among others, developpers are expected to support the production of this vaccine for the sustainability of the product,” Agwale said.

Agwale, who is working in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health to eradicate typhoid in the country, said the vaccine is capable of reducing many health and socio-economic crisis.