By EFE,
Lima : Some seven million people will be vaccinated against swine flu in Peru, Health Minister Oscar Ugarte has said.
The health ministry is in the process of acquiring the vaccine and plans to have it available in November, Ugarte told the official Andina news agency.
“The World Health Organization and the pharmaceutical companies are still setting the rules of the game, but we have appropriated funds for buying the vaccine anyway and it will go to groups in the population at risk on a priority basis,” the health minister said.
Peru is spending some 300 million soles ($102 million) on the AH1N1 flu vaccine, Ugarte said.
Children and the aged and “those who have some other complication that could make their condition worse” will be given priority in the vaccination programme, the health minister said.
A total of 98 people have died from swine flu in Peru, with 18 new deaths registered since last week’s report, Ugarte said, adding that the latest victims belonged to high-risk groups.
Health officials also confirmed 353 new cases of the disease, bringing to 6,961 the number of people infected with the Influenza A (H1N1) virus in the Andean nation, the health minister said.
Only 353 people, however, are currently being treated for the disease, with 487 others released from medical facilities in the past eight days, health ministry figures show.
The number of new influenza cases is dropping across much of Peru, Ugarte said.
“We are in a period of real decline. The epidemic has not ended yet. We should not let down our guard. New cases of AH1N1 could still appear, so we are recommending that preventative health measures continue to be taken,” the health minister said.
President Alan Garcia and the other members of the Peruvian delegation that travelled to last week’s Union of South American Nations, or Unasur, summit in Bariloche, Argentina, did not get swine flu, Ugarte said.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe was diagnosed with swine flu after returning home from the summit.