The immunizations are being directed by the GAVI Alliance, or the Global Alliance for Vaccinations and Immunizations. In areas of the world such as sub-Saharan Africa, pneumonia is affecting the most people, with global deaths around 1.6 million children and 18% of all children deaths. With these new vaccines, GAVI believes that more than 1 million children can be save annually.
Yet the challenge to roll-out the immunization on such a large scale faces many daunting challenges. Aside from the mere scale of the operation, costs and backing have become an issue for the effort. The article points towards one example from the BBC that highlights the large cost disparity between the same drug in different countries. According to the article, "The pneumococcal vaccine costs £2.20 ($3.50) in Africa compared to £38 in Europe as a result of a deal between Gavi and two manufacturers: Pfizer and GSK". This kind of gap in vaccination costs only prolongs the vaccination protection of children around the globe.
After the assignment we received in class today and seeing this link online, I became aware of how quickly the ideas of global health are growing globally. Not only is it our responsibility to be aware of the struggles communities face, but to do everything in our power to aid them. It also good to see that organizations are able to receive the support from companies and countries necessary to complete such a large-scale goal. It seems that as populations continue to boom worldwide, countries are becoming more and more aware of how much damage disease can do to a country's stability and economy.
Yet the struggle for equal and adequate care continues. As stated in the article and video, in order to complete the goals set by the UN's Millennium goals, pharmaceutical companies must be willing to cut costs in order to make the vaccine available for wide-scale use. Hopefully through diligent diplomacy and policy-making, law-makers and drug companies can come to terms that make vaccines, such as this new pneumonia vaccine, available to everyone.
Link: http://www.good.is/post/new-pneumonia-vaccine-launches-today-in-africa-lives-will-be-saved/
What interested me most about this post and article was the price differential between the cost of the vaccine in Africa and the cost of the vaccine in Europe. At first glance,it struck me as surprising that the vaccine cost so much less in Africa than in Europe due to the deal between GAVI and two vaccine manufacturers. It is wonderful that the vaccines will be available to the more at-risk population at the lower cost, but I wonder what the political and social ramifications of this will be in the higher income countries. Will these countries become resentful that they are paying much higher prices and be more reluctant to allow such deals to take place in the future? I would be interested to hear the details of the deal between GAVI and the manufacturers and hear what some of the European reactions are.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find interesting about this situation is that it ultimately boils down to an issue of social justice. I believe that it's important for countries that have vast resources to lend a helping hand to countries lacking in resources. We should try to uplift LMIC to the point where they can develop the infrastructure and stability that developed countries experience. In the short-term there is probably a huge loss of profit on the part of developed countries as pharmaceutical companies lose money. But I think the longer term political and economic stability in these lower income countries will be influential in attaining world peace and ensuring that future economic crises don't occur.
ReplyDeleteI also think that improving health in places like Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia is vital. Most major diseases have come out of these three areas. Thus, if we improve health in these areas there is a smaller possibility of new exotic diseases arising and spreading around the world.