Preventing disease through vaccination — a contrast between developed and developing countries

Nearly 12 million Africans deemed at highest risk from yellow fever will be vaccinated next week against the virus, which can cause explosive epidemics in cities.
Vaccination is the best way to prevent yellow fever, which is hard to diagnose in early stages and for which there is no specific treatment, according to the United Nations [...]

Health Canada warns people not to buy unauthorized products to fight H1N1 flu

Federal authorities are warning Canadians not to buy unauthorized products from the Internet or other sources that claim to fight the H1N1 virus.  The Competition Bureau and Health Canada issued a statement Wednesday saying that only three products are authorized for use against the virus: the vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline called Arepanrix, which is available at [...]

HIV vaccine trial cuts infection by 31.2%

A Phase III clinical trial involving more than 16,000 adult volunteers in Thailand has demonstrated that an investigational HIV vaccine regimen was safe and modestly effective in preventing HIV infection. According to final results released by the trial sponsor (the U.S. Army Surgeon General), the prime boost combination of Sanofi Pasteur’s ALVAC vaccine and AIDSVAX, [...]

Innovative vaccine venture offers hope to less-developed countries

Britain’s largest charity, the Wellcome Trust, and pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. have joined together to create a non-profit, £90-million (about $150 million) research center in India to facilitate the development of new vaccines, “including [those for] neglected diseases for which inadequate or no vaccines exist.”  According to Nature News, “the move marks the first [...]

H1N1 vaccines close to approval says WHO

The World Health Organization recently stated that the first vaccines to combat H1N1 swine flu should be approved and ready for use in some countries from September, according to a recent article by Reuters.
Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research, also said vaccine production yields were improving, following a disappointing start that [...]

Tiered Pricing Enables Health for All

PAHO must accept their share of the responsibility in ensuring health for all in the 21st century. Many Latin American countries are “rich” today compared to most African states and some of their sister “south” American nations. Middle income PAHO states cannot hold much of Africa or their own poorer member countries like Haiti hostage for the self-interests of their more powerful, richer rapidly developing countries.

GAVI announces innovative approach to developing vaccines for developing nations

At the end of last week, the GAVI Alliance partners (the World Bank, WHO and UNICEF), five national governments and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation formally announced the first-ever Advance Market Commitment (AMC) designed to accelerate access to vaccines against pneumococcal disease.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the $1.5 billion program marks a departure [...]

WHO and 30 vaccine manufacturers meet: commit to meeting public health needs re H1N1

WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with over 30 vaccine manufacturers from developing and developed countries at WHO headquarters yesterday.  Industry representatives affirmed their wish to cooperate in making supplies of any eventual vaccine for Influenza A(H1N1) available to developing countries, and said they stood ready to produce the [...]