Photo: © Carolyn Taylor/Global Focus on Cancer
The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) board announced yesterday that will expand its vaccine programs to include the HPV vaccine, which guards against cervical cancer, and a vaccine against Rubella to promote maternal and child health. It was also revealed that the funding conference held in London last June assembled 4.3 billion USD, which is 600 million more than GAVI asked for. This represents a big opportunity for the funding of more vaccines to the poorest countries.
The GAVI Board Meeting took place this week in Dhaka (Bangladesh) and opened the door to expand vaccination in the developing world. Now it's time to negotiate a sustainable price with manufacturers, and if those negotiations are successful and countries are able to deliver the vaccines, up to two million women and girls in nine countries could be protected from cervical cancer by 2015. Let's not forget that cervical cancer is responsible for about 275,000 deaths each year, of which 88 percent are in developing countries. GAVI says the numbers could rise to 430,000 by 2030 if no action is taken.
GAVI also agreed to open a funding window for vaccines against the rubella virus, which threatens pregnancies and child health. The new rubella vaccine program will be combined with a measles vaccine in a single shot. “If contracted by pregnant women, rubella can lead to multiple severe birth defects that cause lifelong disabilities. Some 90,000 birth defects occur each year in GAVI-eligible countries, equivalent to 80 percent of the global burden. It can also lead to miscarriage and stillbirth. The plan is to reach 588 million children by 2015”, GAVI says.
This is a big deal for "women and girls in poorer countries because they usually do not have access to screening to prevent cervical cancer and treatment taken for granted in richer nations. Today, we have taken deliberate first steps to correct this inequity", said Seth Berkley, CEO of GAVI. Since its creation in 2000, GAVI has raised over 7 billion USD for the purchase and provision of childhood vaccines - like polio, measles, Hepatitis, Rotavirus, and others. As a result GAVI has helped immunize 325 million children and has supported developing countries to prevent more than 5.5 million premature deaths.
read more: GAVI takes first steps to introduce vaccines against cervical cancer and rubella
video: Vietnam Cancer Hospitals
The GAVI Board Meeting took place this week in Dhaka (Bangladesh) and opened the door to expand vaccination in the developing world. Now it's time to negotiate a sustainable price with manufacturers, and if those negotiations are successful and countries are able to deliver the vaccines, up to two million women and girls in nine countries could be protected from cervical cancer by 2015. Let's not forget that cervical cancer is responsible for about 275,000 deaths each year, of which 88 percent are in developing countries. GAVI says the numbers could rise to 430,000 by 2030 if no action is taken.
GAVI also agreed to open a funding window for vaccines against the rubella virus, which threatens pregnancies and child health. The new rubella vaccine program will be combined with a measles vaccine in a single shot. “If contracted by pregnant women, rubella can lead to multiple severe birth defects that cause lifelong disabilities. Some 90,000 birth defects occur each year in GAVI-eligible countries, equivalent to 80 percent of the global burden. It can also lead to miscarriage and stillbirth. The plan is to reach 588 million children by 2015”, GAVI says.
This is a big deal for "women and girls in poorer countries because they usually do not have access to screening to prevent cervical cancer and treatment taken for granted in richer nations. Today, we have taken deliberate first steps to correct this inequity", said Seth Berkley, CEO of GAVI. Since its creation in 2000, GAVI has raised over 7 billion USD for the purchase and provision of childhood vaccines - like polio, measles, Hepatitis, Rotavirus, and others. As a result GAVI has helped immunize 325 million children and has supported developing countries to prevent more than 5.5 million premature deaths.
read more: GAVI takes first steps to introduce vaccines against cervical cancer and rubella
video: Vietnam Cancer Hospitals
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