Vaccine
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From August to December 2011, a multidisciplinary group with expertise in mathematical modeling was constituted by the GAVI Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to estimate the impact of vaccination in 73 countries supported by the GAVI Alliance. ⋯ Vaccination of persons during 2011-2020 in 73 GAVI-eligible countries is expected to have substantial public health impact, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia, two regions with high mortality. The actual impact of vaccination in these countries may be higher than our estimates because several widely used antigens were not included in the analysis. The quality of our estimates is limited by lack of data on underlying disease burden and vaccine effectiveness against fatal disease outcomes in developing countries. We plan to update the estimates annually to reflect updated demand forecasts, to refine model assumptions based on results of new information, and to extend the analysis to include morbidity and economic benefits.
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The Decade of Vaccines Global Vaccine Action Plan has outlined a set of ambitious goals to broaden the impact and reach of immunization across the globe. A projections exercise has been undertaken to assess the costs, financing availability, and additional resource requirements to achieve these goals through the delivery of vaccines against 19 diseases across 94 low- and middle-income countries for the period 2011-2020. The exercise draws upon data from existing published and unpublished global forecasts, country immunization plans, and costing studies. ⋯ About 57% of the total resources required to close the funding gap are needed just to maintain existing programs and scale up other currently available vaccines (i.e., before adding in the additional costs of vaccines still in development). Efforts to mobilize additional resources, manage program costs, and establish mutual accountability between countries and development partners will all be necessary to ensure the goals of the Decade of Vaccines are achieved. Establishing or building on existing mechanisms to more comprehensively track resources and commitments for immunization will help facilitate these efforts.
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The Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) is a unique model of a public and private international alliance. It assembles governmental and private organizations to work toward a common goal of manufacturing and supplying high-quality vaccines at affordable prices to protect people around the world from known and emerging infectious diseases. Together, this group of manufacturers has decades of experience in manufacturing vaccines, with technologies, know-how, and capacity to produce more than 40 vaccines types. ⋯ Furthermore, more than 45 vaccines are in the pipeline. Recent areas of focus include vaccines to protect against rotavirus, human papillomavirus (HPV), Japanese encephalitis, meningitis, hepatitis E, poliovirus, influenza, and pertussis, as well as combined pentavalent vaccines for children. The network has a growing number of manufacturers that produce a growing number of products to supply the growing demand for vaccines in developing countries.
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We aimed to determine demographic predictors of parental vaccine safety and risk perceptions, and assess the relationship between the occurrence of children's perceived adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) on parents' opinions. ⋯ Parents commonly perceive and report that their child has experienced an AEFI. In this group of parents the subsequent expectation of an AEFI and vaccine safety concerns may be heightened. Further research should investigate parental understandings of differentiating an expected event from an adverse event as this could inform immunization risk communication and consumer AEFI reporting strategies.
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The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) is a public-private global health partnership aiming to increase access to immunisation in poor countries. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the third largest recipient of GAVI funds in terms of cumulative disbursed support. We provided a comprehensive assessment of GAVI support and analysed trends in immunisation performance and financing in the DRC from 2002 to 2010. ⋯ GAVI support to DRC has enhanced significant progress in routine immunisation performance and financing during 2002-2010. Although progress has been partly sustained, the initial observed increase in DTP3 coverage and available funding for routine immunisation halted towards the end of the analysis period, coinciding with tetravalent and pentavalent vaccine introduction. These findings highlight the need for additional efforts to ensure the sustainability of routine immunization program performance and financing.