It's flu season, and many Americans have been to the doctor or school clinic for a flu shot. These shots protect us - especially the most vulnerable, our children and the elderly - from the season's harshest bugs, and prevent a simple infection from turning into something much worse.
In the world's poorest countries, the picture is much different. Each year, 2 million to 3 million children in developing countries, mainly in Africa, die from diseases that could be prevented by vaccines available today.
The most common cause of these vaccine-preventable deaths - a bacterium known as pneumococcus that leads to bacterial pneumonia, meningitis and other diseases - is a growing problem in need of urgent attention. AIDS increases its risk by nearly 40 times, and antibiotic resistance makes treatment less effective. If pandemic influenza strikes, more than 4.5 million additional cases of childhood pneumococcal pneumonia will occur worldwide before it runs its course.
Millions more children die from diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS that don't yet have vaccines but could within the next 10 years.
Market forces have failed to answer the call for solutions. Now, a unique partnership of the world's wealthy countries brings hope that we can overcome this market failure and beat these killer diseases. If successful, it will provide scientists and manufacturers the opportunity to develop, test and deploy the vaccines faster than ever.
The return on this investment? The prevention of 4 million child deaths from pneumococcal disease.
A major roadblock to developing and deploying vaccines that prevent such diseases is the initial high investment required by companies. To recoup their investments, companies often charge $50 to $100 per dose in developed countries - beyond the means of poor countries that often spend less than $15 per person each year on all health care. Manufacturers are reluctant to invest millions on the research and development necessary to create viable and desperately needed vaccines if they are unable to recoup their costs.
