Presented by Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (PHCPI)
Last week, we reported on how the vaccine market — and by extension, low- and middle-income countries — remains highly dependent on just a few manufacturers. This week, Jenny and Devex contributor Madalitso Wills Kateta take a closer look at two of those vaccines: one for malaria and the other for cervical cancer.
This is a preview of Devex CheckUp
Sign up to this newsletter for exclusive global health news and insider insights, in your inbox every Thursday.
There are major differences between the two vaccines when it comes to their development timeline. But they share a few things in common: They’re both expensive, and they remain out of reach for many low- and middle-income countries.
• The first HPV vaccine to protect against cervical cancer was approved in 2006, and to date, 123 countries have introduced it, according to Dr. Kate O'Brien, WHO's director of immunization, vaccines, and biologicals. But these countries represent only 33% of the world’s girl population. Countries such as China and India — home to the two largest populations in the world — have yet to include it in their national immunization programs.
• Supply constraints have delayed the rollout of human papillomavirus vaccines, with only two manufacturers — GSK and Merck — producing the bulk of the shots. But WHO is hopeful this will soon ease with the entry of new manufacturers from China and India that could also drive down prices.
• But that may not still fully guarantee access to the vaccine. Funding will be crucial, and country resources are being constrained by a slew of crises such as Russia’s war in Ukraine. If this persists and affects funding for institutions such as Gavi, which have been instrumental in introducing the vaccines in low-income countries, it could threaten access to HPV vaccinations, says O’Brien.
• Meanwhile, RTS,S, or Mosquirix, the world’s first malaria vaccine, is still in pilot phase in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi but will soon be rolled out nationally. GSK is currently the only manufacturer, and because the vaccine requires four doses, the cost per person is expected to reach €37.20 ($39), likely too expensive for some countries. “This vaccine will be the most expensive vaccine in the Gavi portfolio requiring co-financing,” says Ghanashyam Sethy, a health specialist at UNICEF Malawi.
• The good news is that there are other promising malaria vaccines in late-stage development, including one candidate developed by Oxford University. If the results are positive, the Serum Institute of India is expected to manufacture it. But it may not be available until 2024.
Read: The HPV vaccine market is changing. But there are other access threats
Here’s more: Is the first Malaria vaccine worth the cost?
COPcast
Our colleague Sara Jerving was at COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, last week to report on the climate crisis, and what leaders of the world are doing (or not!) about it. She spoke with Vanessa Kerry, CEO of Seed Global Health, a nonprofit that trains health professionals in low-income countries, who underscored the need for health to be formally included in the agenda of next year’s COP 28 in the United Arab Emirates.
Your next job?
Senior Adviser (Primary Health Care)
World Health Organization
Geneva, Switzerland
Why? Kerry says it's because any time there's formal recognition, it ups the opportunities for ideas, collaborations, and the resources needed to "actually solve the problem."
Listen to the podcast episode. Check out the rest of our COPcast podcast on Spotify, Spreaker, or Apple Podcasts.
Sara also moderated a panel on health, where Wellcome’s policy lead on health and climate spoke candidly on her organization’s outdated model of grant-making, which she said often went to “their friends at Oxford and Cambridge.” Read more on that here.
+ Join us: If you want to take stock of the most important outcomes of the COP 27 negotiations, register now for our Devex Pro Live event on Nov. 22 at 9 a.m. ET.
Dispatch from Pattaya
“Feminism is not a brand; feminism [is] a process. INGOs will also have to go through this process of transformation, and ask themselves how they are perpetuating power dynamics while funding the work they do."
– Sivananthi Thanenthiran, executive director, The Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for WomenThanenthiran spoke at a panel on feminist philanthropy in sexual and reproductive health and rights that Amruta moderated at the International Conference on Family Planning in Thailand this week, where panelists were confronted by the question: Are feminism and philanthropy contradictory? Watch this space for more on that, and tell us your thoughts about what feminist philanthropy for SRHR should look like. Send them to checkup@devex.com.
On the front lines
Not all heroes wear capes. In the case of Dr. Natalia Tetruieva — one of Ukraine’s leading maxillofacial surgeons — it’s scrubs. Every day, the 74-year-old doctor goes to work in Kyiv to operate on children with cleft lip and palate, along with children who’ve been victims of the war. She does these emergency surgeries even in the midst of evacuation sirens, power outages, and bomb explosions.
Jenny spoke to Tetruieva, who recently earned an award as one of 17 outstanding women in global health.
Read the profile of this incredible woman.
A season of change
Several Geneva health folks know that Dr. Soumya Swaminathan is leaving WHO, along with several senior colleagues such as Dr. Ren Minghui, as we reported recently. On Tuesday, Swaminathan, WHO’s chief scientist, formally announced her departure in a tweet.
Swaminathan will return to India and sit on the board of trustees of the M S Swaminathan Foundation, a nonprofit founded by her father, according to the Indian Express. Her replacement isn’t known yet. WHO has stayed mum on the senior management shuffling. But some WHO insiders are anticipating that changes may be announced ahead of WHO’s global management meeting in December. Stay tuned: We’ll bring the latest.
ICYMI: Exclusive — WHO top official set to leave amid senior management shake-up
One big number
8 billion
—That’s how many of us are in the world now, according to the U.N. Population Fund. But while some have long expressed worries over the implications of population growth on the planet’s limited resources, Rachel Snow, the chief of the population and development branch at UNFPA, tells Amruta that it’s “a milestone for development, and for incredible improvements in public health and longevity.” She said there are plenty of other things to worry about such as climate change and the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on food supply and prices.
Read more: Population hits 8 billion, but UNFPA sees bigger things to worry about
What we’re reading
The pandemic preparedness fund gets a new name and two new co-chairs. [Devex]
Uganda imposes restrictions in Ebola-affected districts to contain the outbreak. [Kampala Dispatch]
The U.S. FDA authorizes Roche's monkeypox test. [Reuters]
About the authors
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
Amruta Byatnalamrutabyatnal
Amruta Byatnal is a Senior Editor at Devex where she edits coverage on global development, humanitarian crises and international aid. She writes Devex CheckUp, a weekly newsletter on the latest developments in global health. Previously, she worked for News Deeply in the United States, and The Hindu in India. She is a graduate of Cornell University where she studied international development. She is currently based in New Delhi.
