Sub-Saharan African countries account for about a third of the global burden of vaccine-preventable diseases. These diseases are responsible for a large proportion of deaths in children under the age of five.
But there is a knowledge gap about the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases among HIV-infected and HIV-exposed children (HIV-negative children born to women with HIV) in sub-Saharan Africa. It's important to know more about this because of the extra vulnerability of children infected with and exposed to HIV. It's also essential because health care interventions such as vaccination programmes need to be based on evidence.
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