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By Joe DeCapua
Davos, Switzerland, January 30, 2010 — The Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation Friday pledged $10 billion dollars over the next 10 years to
research and develop new vaccines. The announcement came at the World
Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
It was 10 years ago that Bill and Melinda Gates first made their
commitment to vaccine research. It led to the creation of the Global
Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, or GAVI.
“Over these last 10 years, the success of both increasing vaccine
coverage and getting new vaccines out has been phenomenal,” he says.
Redoubling Commitment
“Over this last decade we’ve spent $4.5 billion on vaccine research and
delivery. And today we’re announcing a commitment over this next decade,
which we think of as a decade of vaccines having incredible impact –
we’re announcing we’ll spend over $10 billion on vaccines,” he says.
Despite the amount of the foundation’s pledge, Gates says it’s not
enough to develop all the vaccines needed in the developing world.
“We need the increased generosity of the rich world governments. The
amount of aid that goes to health and vaccines in particular has gone up
and it needs to go up even more. We need help from the developing
countries as they put priority on this in their budgets and the quality
of their delivery systems to get out and reach every child,” he says.
And he calls for more public/private partnerships that include the major
pharmaceutical companies.
Life saving and cost effective
Melinda Gates explains why the Gates Foundation is renewing its pledge
to support vaccine research and development.
"It’s really because of what Bill and I have seen that’s been possible –
the amazing life-saving advances of this technology of vaccine and the
success of the GAVI Alliance and what they’ve really done the last 10
years,” she says.
She says there used to be much lag time between the time a vaccine
appeared in the U.S. or Europe and the when they became available in
poor countries.
“That amount of time is starting to come down. We were also quite
surprised when we first started looking at vaccines – that they were
such a life-saving advance. They were so effective and cost effective
and yet immunization rates were on the decline if you look back 10 years
ago,” she says.
However, she says in the last nine years, immunization rates – for such
diseases as diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis – have risen sharply.
“The vaccine rate has jumped worldwide from 66 percent to 79 percent.
That means more children who are staying alive because of these basic
vaccines, Gates says.
Polio, once in 125 countries, is now endemic in four, she says, and is
on the verge of eradication.
Melinda Gates says with the investment by the foundation and its
partners, the deaths of eight million children would be prevented over
the next nine years. She is also confident a malaria vaccine will
eventually be developed.
Julian Lob-Levyt, chief executive officer of GAVI, says there have been
many successes since the alliance’s creation.
“More than 250 million children have been immunized. And the latest data
that we’re releasing today from WHO (World Health Organization) five
million deaths have been prevented with that kind of support. Those are
phenomenal sums. In sub-Saharan Africa now nearly 80 percent of kids are
getting their three shots of vaccines,” he says.
The announcement by the Gates Foundation was made at the World Economic
Forum, which runs through January 31st.
Source: VOA, January 29, 2010
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