Havana, July 20 (IANS) Cuba has achieved a single-dose vaccine to prevent five diseases — diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, Hepatitis B and Haemophilus flu Type B, reports Prensa Latina.

Registered by the Centre for State Control of Medicine Quality, the vaccine is ready to be applied nationwide, according to Luis Herrera, the director of the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in the central Cuban city of Santa Clara.

The new medicine implies savings, because only one vial is needed for each dose instead of four, and no additional handling is needed, Herrera said.