Exciting news...for a change.
Anyone questing the value of UNICEF will have a major change of heart
when they read this report. And by the way, this also speaks to our
collective power...should we ever get together and use it.
Carl Jarvis
***
The United Nations Children’s Fund has made a deal with six vaccine
manufacturers that will cut in half the price of a shot that protects
children against five diseases, the fund announced last week.
The deal will mean three years’ worth of vaccine at an average price
of 84 cents a dose; buyers currently pay about $1.84, according to
Unicef.
Unicef will buy about 450 million doses for 80 of the world’s poorest
countries. Low- and middle-income countries purchasing vaccine for
themselves can
also qualify for the lower prices, Unicef said.
The vaccine protects against
diphtheria,
tetanus,
whooping cough,
hepatitis B
and Haemophilus influenzae Type B (known as Hib). Gavi, the Vaccine
Alliance, estimates that the shots will prevent more than five million
deaths by the
year 2020.
In 2001, only one company made the so-called pentavalent vaccine. As
more companies have started offering it, Unicef has forced them to
compete by holding
several rounds of bidding for large contracts and publishing all of
the prices that were offered.
Another advantage of an expanded market is that vaccine plants can
develop sterility problems that force them to shut down for cleaning
and repairs. Having
multiple manufacturers ensures against shortages, which can be
disastrous during epidemics.
Measles
shots and doses of vitamin A are among the chief reasons t the number
of children who die before reaching age 5 has dropped sharply. The
number was
about 10 million a year 10 years ago
; it is now approaching five million a year.
But the diseases prevented by the pentavalent vaccine kill many of the
youngest infants. Progress saving those lives has been slower. The Hib
bacterium
alone, for example, kills about 350,000 children a year.
The pentavalent shot is typically given to each baby three times — at
6 weeks, 10 weeks and 14 weeks.
Measles vaccine
and vitamin A are usually not given until about 9 months.
