Boston (SmartAboutHealth) - Rwanda will be the first developing country to launch a new vaccine program against pneumococcal disease.

The program will aim to immunize nearly 400,000 infants by the end of the year 2009.

This will help save the lives of thousands of children in the developing country of Rwanda.

This was announced by the GAVI Alliance, made up of many world organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Pneumococcal disease causes the deaths of children all over the world year after year.

This is the first program of its kind in a developing country to take on the disease aggressively.

The hope is that over time, by immunizing these kids, they can systematically work to try and rid of the disease in the decades to come.

Pneumococcal meningitis is one of the most preventable diseases via vaccination.