Bill Gates vows to 'crack' vaccine gap

(Indian Express | 8 December 2005)

NEW DELHI, DEC 7: With 27 million children missing out on immunisation in their first year and 1.4 million dying of vaccine-preventable diseases by the age of 5, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates insisted on "cracking the historic gap between the development of the vaccine and implementation in the developing world".

Addressing a gathering of representatives from 72 countries at a meeting of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), Gates said the process needs to be accelerated so that the use of vaccines across the developing world increases.

The meeting, which brings together around 400 public health leaders, policy makers and vaccine researchers and manufacturers from across the globe, is being held in India since it accounts for a third of the non-immunised children worldwide.

Launched in 2000, GAVI is committed to increase immunisation rates and reverse widening global disparities in vaccine-access.

The alliance partners include governments in industrialised and developing countries, UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The GAVI alliance has distributed 1.214 billion single-use, auto-disposable (AD) syringes. The idea is to protect millions of children in developing countries from blood-borne pathogens that might be transmitted through dubious injection practices.

India has begun using AD syringes for immunisation with GAVI support.

GAVI supports immunisation programmes in developing countries with the help of 10 governments including UK, Norway and Sweden. Almost $2.8 billion had been raised in traditional funding from government and private sources until this month. Of this, $1.5 billion has been committed to directly support countries; $603 million has already been disbursed.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said his country was increasing its annual support to GAVI from $45 million in 2004 to $75 million in 2006.

GAVI is likely to launch global initiatives to reduce death and disability from haemophilus influenzae type b (HIB vaccine), which causes bacterial meningitis and pneumonia.

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