Today we get to celebrate a significant milestone for global health equity.
The GAVI Alliance, an organization that helps make sure children in poor countries get the same vaccines that children in rich countries do, just met its fundraising target for the next four years. They did it despite the fact that donors everywhere are coping with budget crises.
This news comes on the heels of an announcement by several multinational and developing country vaccine manufacturers that they will be lowering the prices of some key vaccines. Together, these developments mean that we can save more than 4 million additional lives by 2015.
Vaccines are one of the best long-term investments to prevent disease and give children a healthy start in life. But for a long time, the healthiest children in the least danger were getting vaccines, and the children who needed vaccines the most weren't getting them. In many cases, it took decades before vaccines made for developed-country markets were available in poor countries. Take the example of rotavirus, the leading causes of diarrheal disease. Only children in poor countries die from rotavirus, yet the vaccines for the disease was made available first in rich countries!
That's why increasing access to vaccines for the world's poorest countries is one of the top priorities of the Gates Foundation, and that's why today we pledged an additional $1 billion to support the lifesaving work of the GAVI Alliance over the next five years. We were joined by many other donors who understand that buying vaccines saves lives, and who know it is an investment worth making, no matter how tight their budgets.
I hope we celebrate this fantastic news by redoubling our efforts to reach the next milestone, and the next, until there is no longer any gap in health care between rich and poor countries.
With the continued generosity of donors and the commitment of developing countries to reach every child, everywhere, the world will reach the point where the circumstances of a child's birth have nothing to do with whether he or she gets lifesaving vaccines.
More to Explore:
•GAVI
•Our Work in Vaccines
Originally posted on the blog of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bill Gates is the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He regularly posts his thoughts about the Foundation's work and other projects on his personal web site, The Gates Notes.
Follow Bill Gates on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BillGates
"The United Nations Children’s Fund on Friday publicly listed for the first time the price it pays for vaccines.
The decision which immediately revealed wide disparities in what vaccine makers charge could lead to drastic cuts in prices for vaccines that save millions of children’s lives."
"The medical charity Doctors Without Borders, which successfully pressed for lower AIDS drug prices in Africa a decade ago and has campaigned for the public posting of vaccine prices, declared the move avictory.
"...Daniel Berman, deputy director of the charity’s global access campaign. “As soon as the donors see the differentials, they’re going to insist that Unicef and GAVI get better prices.” GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, collects billions of dollars from donors to help Unicef pay for vaccines.
Mr. Berman recently quit a GAVI committee to protest its resistance to revealing prices.
Officials of several pharmaceutical companies sit on GAVI boards.
GAVI dragged its feet until Unicef forced the issue, he said. "
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Where was GAVI ?
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"The company (GSK) said that it intends to use profits made in wealthier countries to subsidize drugs for poorer nations, selling them at a price that covers just the cost of production. Witty said the plan is part of a concerted strategy aimed at changing GSK’s business model."
http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/news/248045-glaxosmithkline-to-cut-rotavirus-price-by-95-percent-for-poorest-countries
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Taxation without representation anyone ?
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: May 27, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/28/health/28vaccine.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=vaccines&st=cse
i just accidentally flagged this
“That's why I put forward a robust and co-ordinated multilayered and multi-teired health strategy.”
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Some here (JRS) decry what GAVI are trying to achieve because they promotes vaccination (even though this is not at the expense of other life-saving interventions).
But to antivaccine campaigners, anything that places any emphasis on the importance of vaccination as part of the overall solution to the elimination of global disease comes as a complete anathema. So their answer is to point to other agencies, like MSF or Oxfam (assuming they won't prioritise vaccines?)
Unfortunately for JRS it appears that MSF and Oxfam fully support vaccines.
http://bitURL.net/brbg
They state:
"Vaccines have made possible some of the greatest publichealth successes of the past century. Immunisation helps avert an estimated 2.5 million child deaths each year, as well as millions more bouts of illness and disability."
and
"Wider use of available vaccines could help avert a further two million deaths annually in children under five years."
They discuss ways of improving access to vaccines, and that a crucial element to help GAVI achieve its aims is to tackle the issue of pricing, which could be brought down further by competitive market practices. They discuss ways of improving these, as well as new vaccine R&D aspirations, and indicate where GAVI should concentrate its scarce resources.
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I support what MSF, Oxfam, and GAVI are striving to achieve.
A better, healthier life for children everywhere, one not blighted by the scourge of disease and death from vaccine-preventable illness.
One multilayered strategy and which I support was researched and published by Johns Hopkins
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110322172213.htm
Unfortunately the pragmatics of developing world countries necessitate the primacy of clean purified water something seen as a basic need.
The simplistic model - Vaccination allows nothing for treatment for those to young to receive a vaccine or those who should not (immunocompromised , malnourished and others with complicating other medical difficulties including HIV).
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Children of Africa and Asia deserve our best efforts - the best and safest vaccines, the best multilayered approaches. The best use of money and resources.
Quite simply the numbers speak the loudest - a multilayered approach with the primacy of water as preventative and treatment with the inclusion of safe and efficacious vaccines to prevent some diseases would mean 93% of children would be saved not only from death but dibilatating diseaes and other medical conditions.
I never have been, and for you to imply as much is dishonest.
However I do acknowledge and recognize the importance of vaccination which has a major role to play. In the prevention of diseases spread through poor hygiene and water (polio, rotavirus) it appears that only when a comprehensive vaccine program is tagged onto the already deployed sanitation strategies do the diseases start to disappear.
In the prevention of respiratory-borne diseases (like measles, pertussis, influenza, pneumococcal disease, Hemophilus, meningococcal disease, diphtheria) vaccination plays a crucial and central role in their control and elimination.
Do we want cheaper vaccines? Of course. The cheaper they are the more they will be used and the less disease we will see.
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Vaccination - go for it - prevention is always better than cure.
Our children and the children of those everywhere in the world deserve it.
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Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe
diarrhoea in young children worldwide. It can result
in acute dehydration, vomiting, and fever and is
responsible for nearly 600,000 child deaths each
year, mostly in developing countries – more than one
third of deaths from diarrhoea worldwide. Rotavirus
is highly contagious.
Vaccines to prevent rotavirus
infections have been licensed for use in Europe, Latin
America, and the United States.
http://bitURL.net/brbg
"...rotavirus accounted for 6% of diarrhea episodes and 20% of deaths caused by diarrhea in children "
80% of deaths need to be addressed one clear solution is Oral Rehydration Therapy ... it saves 93% of lives it is part of a fresh clean water strategy.
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Common sense over propaganda.
Even if vaccination is only 73% effective at this, that means far fewer children get ill in the first place. For those who are ill, use rehydration salts by all means - that is standard medical treatment for diarrhea.
The goal is to prevent these life threatening illnesses in the first place, so nobody needs get ill enogh to need treatment.
It's a simple and pragmatic strategy, and one that should always be favored over the "let's wait for them all to get ill, then see if we can save a few" strategy that you espouse, which has been used with minimal success over the last 50 years.
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Pneumococcal disease is caused by Streptococcus
pneumonia. These bacteria can cause a range of
infections – from relatively mild ear infections to
fatal pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis. Serious
pneumococcal infections can occur throughout life, but
children under two years old and the elderly are at
highest risk.
The World Health Organization estimates
that more than 1.6 million people – including up to
one million children under five – die every year from
pneumococcal infections.
In 2000, a new vaccine
became available – a seven-valent pneumococcal
conjugate vaccine – that is safe and effective in
children under two years old. Two newer pneumococcal
vaccines that are effective against additional serotypes
– 10-valent and 13-valent versions – became available
in March 2009 and February 2010, respectively.
http://bitURL.net/brbg
"In the trial, children were vaccinated through the existing Gambian expanded programme on immunisation at ages of 6, 10, and 14 weeks. Events were recorded between age 3 and 29 months.
The vaccine's efficacy for prevention of culture-confirmed invasive pneumococcal disease caused by vaccine serotypes was 77%, and vaccine serotypes accounted for 65% of invasive pneumococcal disease in the control group.
Overall, a 50% reduction in culture-proven invasive pneumococcal disease was seen.
330 of 8189 children randomised to receive pneumococcal vaccine and 389 of the 8151 randomised to receive placebo died, which is an absolute reduction of 7·4 deaths prevented per 1000 vaccinated children during the period of observation."
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Under pragmatic conditions
Only 65% of were related to vaccine serotypes (pneumococcal disease) leaving 35% untreated by vaccines.
Only a 50% reduction of culture-proven invasive pneumococcal disease was seen.
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330 of 8189 children randomised to receive pneumococcal vaccine died 4.02%
389 of the 8151 randomised to receive placebo died 4.77%
Difference in lives saved - as a percentage .75%
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hmmmm.... I'm sure the taxpayer would expect a bit more bang for their $8 Billion buck.
...and I'm sure the children of Africa and Asia deserve a better response.
Let me guess..... You'd rather that we waited for the kids to come down with meningitis, and then hope that precious, expensive medical interventions such as antibiotics and intensive care can save a few? That hardly seems a cost-effective way to tackle the problem.
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Prevention (through vaccination).
Always better than often ineffective attempts at treatment.
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Hib is a bacterial infection which mainly affects children
under five and can lead to life-threatening meningitis
and pneumonia.
Safe and effective Hib conjugate
vaccines were first licensed in the early 1990s and are
now being introduced in GAVI-eligible countries.
http://bitURL.net/brbg
In the past decade GAVI has artificially the price of vaccines by using AMC's. That simply means less coverage. That means less children are able to access vaccines.
Both MSF and Oxfam are quite clear on their views of GAVI's vaccine pricing and payment policy. They are also so quite clear on using local vaccine manufacturers.
I too wish these life-saving vaccines can be made available at the cheapest price, so more kids can benefit.
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Hepatitis B is a serious disease caused by a virus that
attacks the liver, potentially causing liver cancer, liver
failure, and death in otherwise healthy adults.
A safe and effective vaccine was first licensed in 1982, but
had not been widely used in developing countries
until GAVI provided funding beginning in 2000.
GAVI supports hepatitis B vaccine in combination with other
vaccines such as DTP and Hib.
http://bitURL.net/brbg
Sterilisation of razors, tattoo needles , earrings and other body jewelery, medical equipment , washing of cooking utensils and food preparation are just a few that come to mind.
It is NOT a water borne illness, and nor will washing things with "fresh, clean water" prevent it. (However vaccination will).
The aim is for "one use" only or disposable medical equipment in all countries. If sterilizing is required for more complex medical equipment, this will require additional technology (such as steam autoclaves) which is an expensive item in a 3rd World setting. Washing instruments with "fresh, clean water" will not "sterilize" them. Cooking utensils do not spread Hepatitis B.
Once again you demonstrate both your medical ignorance, and your unseemly haste to rubbish any immunization intervention (Hep B vaccination in this case) that would give everyone the best chance of avoiding this unpleasant disease.
I imagine readers on Huffpo know more about the spread of Hepatitis than you do.
Vaccines have caused endless suffering for countless families. When do those responsible stop their insane ways? How many more have to suffer before those responsible realize what they're doing and stop this insanity?
Most of us out here already know the truth. The jig is up and we aren't putting up with the lies and the harm no more.
http://nvic.org
That's funny!
"How many more have to suffer before those responsible realize what they're doing and stop this insanity?"
What is 'insanity' are people who cannot do simple math. People who are incapable of determining which has/will cause more suffering, disability, and death...the diseases or the vaccines that prevent them from happening. It's also 'insanity' when people have no idea about what these disease do to people, yet feel that their opinion on the subject is fully validated because of youtube videos they've watched.
Rinderpest is a morbilli virus, and measles virus evolved from it around 800 years ago to become the human-only disease we know today.
Know how they eradicated rinderpest?
Vaccination was a core strategy.
We could eradicate measles in the same way, if some people would just stop their irrational resistance to vaccination.
* The disease was mainly spread by direct contact and by drinking contaminated water...
* Initial symptoms include fever, loss of appetite, and nasal and eye discharges.
* Acute diarrhoea, preceded by constipation, was also a common feature.
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It's a bit hard to save a child with dehydration complications from measles with a vaccine.
* Rinderpest was one of more than a dozen agents that the United States researched as potential biological weapons before terminating its biological weapons program.
Fantastic!
More of the same please!
Polio...... you are next!
How much profit is made from sales of polio vaccines? Do you have a firm number and a reference? You must know exactly what "get a lot of money" actually is to make a comment of that sort.
* The disease is transmitted primarily via the fecal-oral route, by ingesting contaminated food or water.
* Factors that increase the risk of polio infection or affect the severity of the disease include immune deficiency,[20] malnutrition,[21] tonsillectomy,[22] physical activity immediately following the onset of paralysis,[23] skeletal muscle injury due to injection of vaccines or therapeutic agents,[24] and pregnancy.[25]
* As a precaution against infection, public swimming pools were often closed in affected areas during poliomyelitis epidemics.
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Rotary Clubs around the world and UNICEF have virtually wiped polio using a robust multilayered approach that was inclusive of clean water strategies and vaccination.
http://www.unicef.org/supply/files/11_05_23_OPV.pdf
Works out on average at less than one cent per dose.
Any cheaper and they'd be paying people to take it.
This should sound a warning shot to trying to eliminate a disease simply by using one strategy.
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main33.asp?filename=Ne280707untested_vaccine.asp
PULSE POLIO BUNGLE
July 28 , 2007
"Saniya’s mother, Noorjahen, is furious. “She is having polio drops ever since she was four days old. She has had over a dozen doses of the polio drops. We came to know about her polio when she got a high fever. She could barely manage to stand, could not walk at all, after the fever. We took her to the local hospital where they did a stool test. We were later told that she has polio,” she recounts. “There must be some thing wrong with the polio drops if even after so many doses my child has contracted polio. The government should test medicines before they are used. Pata nahin bachchoo ko kya pila rahin hain!”
"Of 10,264 reported cases of AFP, 209 were cases of polio. Of the remaining 10,055 only 2,553 were followed up. NPSP data reveal that approximately 4,800 cases had residual paralysis or died after acquiring in 2005 non-polio AFP. “The situation was even worse in 2006 after just six doses of MOPVI. It is not surprising that NPSP is not keen on the follow up of these cases,” says Puliyel."
Perhaps Dyson can tell us the difference between Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) and paralysis from polio?
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Clean fresh water can be delivered economically via water purifiers.
Initial retail cost is $5000 / $3500 with tax and supply discounts.
http://www.disasteraid.ca/index.php?p=2_8_SkyJuice-Water-Purification-System
Low pressure, high-flow, ultra-filtration technology meeting World Health Organisation requirements for safe drinking water.
The water purification unit is a lightweight, sustainable and affordable water purification unit for humanitarian projects and emergency and disaster relief:
* Produces up to 1000 litres of clean drinking water per hour
* No power or chemicals required for the purification process
* No replacement filters required
* Effectively purifies most non-saline surface and ground waters
* Quick and easy setup produces clean water instantly
* Is lightweight - easily stored, transported and redeployed
* Can be wall mounted or freestanding
* No technical skills needed for setup, operation or maintenance
* Gravity fed with low or high water pressure set up options
* Can be used for short term or long term applications
* Can be used alone or configured into multi-unit banks
* Totally sustainable
* Long service life
*Essential for Oral Rehydration Therapy - which has an 93% efficacy in saving lives.
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As outlined safe clean drinking water can be supplied to third world communities at the approximate cost of .70c per person
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A budget of only $1 million dollars in a typically poor country like Malawi would save
197 871 children (let alone quality of life)
..... and save countless others from complications.
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Clean water and vaccines would reduce -
Water borne diseases
Other diarrhea conditions
Water washed diseases
Water based diseases - ie parasitic worms
Effects of cuts and infections
Reduce the incidence of disease complications through provision of clean sterilised equipment and bedding
Reduce the incidence and severity of dental conditions causing chronic pain
Reduce the incidence of a variety of skin diseases
Reduce the incidence of eye diseases and blindness
Reduce the incidence of ear infections and subsequent hearing loss
Increase overall health and nutrition of all community members
Food washed and cleaned
Increase the effectiveness of other medications
Provide cleaning for cooking and eating utensils
Help strengthen the immune system in infants , children , pregnant women , and other community members.
....and we haven't talked about the real economic, social and political benefits
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With a budget of some $25.5 million dollars this programme could save 5 million lives.
* Low cost vaccines at $2.00 a dose supplied by third world manufacturers - $25.5 million
* Approx cost currently $3.50 a dose supplied by western manufacturers - $41.5 million
Both are well in reach of any budget held by UNICEF / GAVI
But that has little to do with the drive to prevent respiratory-borne/transmitted infectious diseases like measles, pneumonia, meningitis, pertussis, influenza and diphtheria.
Prevention of these relies on vaccination as the primary strategy. And prevention is so much better than attempted treatment, as I am sure all reasonable and sentient people will agree.
But then antivaxers like you would rather die than admit vaccines are of any benefit, or have a vital role to play for these diseases. Or perhaps you'd rather have others die for your beliefs, maybe a few hundred thousand kids in Africa for instance?
"Ok, JRS, OK! We've seen your "clean water" diatribe for the
100th time now. Great, we get it! You're all about TALKING
about clean water for kids. How noble. Unicef and GAVI have
been thoroughly informed now. Thank you for your constant
redirection to posts as to how your idea is right and there
efforts are inefficient."
According to their spec they only remove material of greater than 0.1 microns in size.
Norovirus is 0.03 microns, and rotavirus is 0.08 microns.
Seems to me they need to filter things a bit better than their advertorials claim if they are to have any place in reducing diarrhea in Africa.
Not sure Dyson but that would only be important if you could filter water for Rotavirus and whether that was how it was generally transmitted.
Unlike yourself I actually know the role of water purification would be in a multilayered prevention and treatment regime.
As does this man recognised expert n vaccines ... I believe he has a huffpost blog somewhere
"...safe water is important for billions of people, it will not protect children from rotavirus, which infects every child by the age of 2 years, even in the USA where we have safe water.
So rotavirus + safe water are important for combating diarrheal diseases, the no. 2 killer of children."
That's why it's multilayered approach ie it fills in the gaps .... in your strategy the yawning gaps.
Once again the figures talk for themselves 93% against
50% of 6% of diarrhea disease ...
I don't want my taxes to go towards helping sick kids - especially in other countries.
I hope Sarah Palin gets off the bus and attacks Bill Gates and his leftwing communist liberals for this blatant waste of money.
Food first then vaccines. Vaccines will not stop anybody from being hungry.
To remove hunger and vaccines should go hand by hand.
Why do they feed you too in the hospital? Should be enough just the medicine (by itself) to make you healthy again?
there needs to be a tandem effort to curb unchecked population growth in the countries where need is most dire:
female education/empowerment/choice, birth control, family planning.