GAVI welcomes a new global commitment to vaccines

A new partnership was announced today, injecting additional funding into the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation’s (GAVI) efforts to help save millions of children.  His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation entered into a partnership in which each committed US$ 50 million for immunisation programmes in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

GAVI will receive US$ 66 million to buy and deliver additional supplies of the five-in-one pentavalent vaccine and to support the introduction of new pneumococcal vaccines in Afghanistan. These vaccines help protect children from the main killers of children under five, including pneumonia, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B (HiB), which causes meningitis.

“Private donations like this send a clear signal to our government donors that they are not alone in seeing the value of immunisation,” said Dagfinn Høybråten, Chair of the GAVI Alliance board.

Backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and an increasing number of sovereign governments since its launch in 2000, the GAVI Alliance has succeeded in immunising more than 288 million children, preventing more than five million premature deaths, according to WHO figures.

If fully funded, the GAVI Alliance will be able to immunise an additional 230 million children with pentavalent vaccine by 2015, and protect 90 million children with new pneumococcal vaccines which are already being introduced in the first of more than 40 developing countries. GAVI also plans to introduce vaccines against rotavirus in 33 countries.

GAVI offers new opportunity to apply for life-saving vaccines

The GAVI Alliance has issued a new call for applications from developing countries keen to protect more of their children from disease with new vaccines.

Studies have shown that immunisation not only saves lives, but also boosts economies, acting as a key driver of development.3  Increasing immunisation rates is vital to meet the health Millennium Development Goals, particularly MDG 4 on reducing child mortality.

GAVI estimates that a fully-funded programme would prevent approximately 4 million future deaths by 2015, and enable the introduction of new vaccines including importantly those that tackle major causes of the world’s two biggest killers of children, pneumonia and diarrhoea.

To continue its mission to save lives and protect people’s health by increasing access to immunisation, GAVI needs to raise approximately US$3.7 billion more within the next five years.

63rd World Health Assembly – outcomes and resolutions

The 63rd World Health Assembly concluded at the end of last week, with delegates adopting proposed resolutions on a number of global health issues, including:

Counterfeit medical products
The World Health Assembly resolved that the WHO should convene an intergovernmental working group on counterfeit medical products, participation in which is to be open to all Member States.

This group will examine WHO’s:

• role in ensuring availability of good-quality, safe, efficacious and affordable medicines
• relationship with the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT)
• role in prevention and control of substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit medical products.

The group’s mandate is to focus on public health issues only – IP and trade issues will not be considered. Recommendations will be presented at the 64th World Health Assembly, in 2011.

Treatment and prevention of pneumonia
WHO Member States adopted a resolution on the treatment and prevention of pneumonia — the number one killer of children under five years globally. The resolution makes it clear that intensified efforts to address pneumonia are imperative if the achievement of Millennium Development Goal 4 is to be achieved.

Polio
On the topic of polio eradication, Member States welcomed the new Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) Strategic Plan 2010-2012, developed over the past 24 months at the request of the Assembly.  The delegates expressed serious concern that insufficient financing for the new Plan is compromising its full implementation, as US$1.3 billion is still needed for the period 2010-2012.

Global eradication of measles
Member States endorsed a series of interim targets set for 2015 as milestones towards the eventual global eradication of measles.  Success in achieving the measles 2015 targets is a key issue if the Millennium Development Goal 4 to reduce child mortality is to be reached.

Public health, innovation and intellectual property: global strategy and plan for action
A new consultative working group will examine the way to take this work forward and is expected to report back to the 65th Health Assembly in 2012.

Discussions on other global health issues at the 63rd WHA were summarized in a previous Patients and Patents posting.

Additional information on the resolutions is available at the World Health Organization site.

GAVI improves access to vaccines – could save close to 1 million lives by 2015

Drugmakers Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline signed a landmark 10-year deal on Tuesday to supply 60 million doses a year of cut-price pneumococcal vaccines to developing nations (Reuters).   The deal, brokered by the Geneva-based Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), is the first under a new scheme called an Advance Market Commitment (AMC) which guarantees a market for vaccines supplied to poor nations but sets a maximum price drugmakers can expect to receive.

GAVI estimates that the introduction of new vaccines against pneumococcal disease — which causes serious illnesses such as pneumonia and meningitis — could save around 900,000 lives by 2015 and up to seven million lives by 2030. GAVI said it plans to introduce pneumococcal vaccines in 47 countries by 2015.

This AMC deal could pave the way for future deals on recently introduced vaccines against rotavirus, which causes severe diarrhea, and an experimental treatment against malaria, which combined kill millions in poor countries each year.

The AMC scheme was devised to try to encourage drug companies to make and supply medicines and vaccines to boost health in poorer countries, which are generally unable to afford the treatments.  Both Pfizer and Glaxo expressed interest in future AMC deals, saying they are committed to tiered pricing structures to ensure their drugs can get to the people who need them most.