WINDHOEK, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Namibia is looking to acquire Hepatitis E vaccine from China in a bid to curb the continuous increase of new infections across the country, an official said here Monday.
Bernard Haufiku, Namibia's Hepatitis E response team leader, also former health minister, said that his team is looking to introduce the vaccine as a pilot project.
"It is a targeted pilot intervention to confirm the effectiveness of the vaccine in our setting. The vaccine was tested in China where it is manufactured and currently in use," Haufiku said.
He added that the vaccine would be launched in the hardest-hit informal settlements in Windhoek, the epicentre of the outbreak.
Over the past two years, Namibia has been grappling with a Hepatitis E outbreak in its informal settlements.
According to Haufiku, 7,142 cases of infections were reported by Jan. 12.
Namibia experienced the first Hepatitis E outbreak in 1983 in Rundu, the capital of its northern Kavango-East region.
