Starting yesterday, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) launched a pneumococcal vaccination campaign in Nicaragua that aims to prevent 700,000 deaths in poorer nations by 2015. Drug makers Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline signed a 10-year contract with GAVI and will supply 60 million doses of their pneumococcal shots — Pfizer’s Prevnar and GSK’s Synflorix — for a discounted price of $7 per dose for the first 20 percent and $3.50 per dose for the remaining 80 percent.
Pneumococcal disease, which claims the lives of more than half a million children annually in mostly poorer countries, causes pneumonia, bacterial meningitis and sepsis. Following Nicaragua, the campaign will move to another 18 countries over the next few years, including parts of the Middle East and Africa.
“You read about the millions of people who are sickened by these infections, and it’s great to hear about how many more people will be protected from it, thanks to the joint collaboration between GAVI, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline,” says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. Some financing was also provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.