The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) revealed that donor nations promised to give $200 million to boost the supply of newly licensed vaccines for rotavirus and pneumococcus in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization, the viruses cause the largest preventable deaths among children in these countries. “Our goal now is to move quickly to save the lives of as many children as possible with the vaccines we have in hand,” GAVI Executive Secretary Julian Lob-Levyt said. The plan involves bringing two rotavirus vaccines manufactured by British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline and U.S. pharmaceutical firm Merck to 13 countries in Eastern European and South and Central America, and the pneumococcal vaccine Prevenar from Wyeth to 10 countries in Africa and South Asia over the next few years.
Source: Rich nations donate $200 mln for child vaccines (Reuters)
