Geneva World Health Assembly Update on Vaccines – Part 4 (By Robert Doble)

Before talking about vaccines, you may wish to see reports from People's Health Movement on WHA events as part of their 'WHO watch' project: http://www.ghwatch.org/node/434

So vaccines...this morning the WHA concluded the immunization discussion which spilled over from yesterday afternoon. Delegates considered a report on progress of Global Immunization Vision and Strategy 2006-15 (GIVS) implementation and had the opportunity to discuss the strategic direction they want to see the Decade of Vaccines Collaboration take as it prepares its Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) by mid-2012. 

The agenda item was mainly a discussion rather than having to agree on any new specific actions. However, it was an opportunity for member states to highlight the progress they have made on immunization coverage and raise any issues. 

Countries generally reported steady progress in improving immunization coverage, e.g. 2009 global DPT3 coverage was up 82%, up from 75% in 1990: http://www.who.int/immunization_monitoring/Global_Immunization_Data.pdf). DPT3 coverage is used as the measure of general basic immunization coverage globally. 

But a lot of countries took the opportunity to highlight the barriers preventing them both introducing new vaccines and ensuring higher levels of coverage in routine immunization. A lot of countries talked about the high price of new vaccines - e.g. pneumococcal conjugate, rotavirus and Kenya also mentioned the high cost of HPV vaccine for cervical cancer. Quite a few countries thanked GAVI and called for more funding for it. And others who are ineligible for GAVI financial support questioned how they would afford the new pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines, suggesting the criteria for GAVI eligibility should be changed. Some countries also emphasised the need to support technology transfer to enable increased local production capacity on vaccines.

There were interventions by NGOs at the end. Save the Children called for more funding for GAVI, in particular from France, Germany and the USA, but stressed GAVI also needs to help countries address inequity in immunization coverage, including in monitoring and surveillance, and for GAVI to work hard on achieving the goal of shaping vaccine markets and reducing prices as part of its 2011-15 strategy. See: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/blogs/2011/05/waiting-to-speak-about-vaccines-at-the-world-health-assembly/

MSF stressed the need to strengthen coverage of routine immunization as well as introduce new vaccines - getting the balance right. They also highlighted the need for improved performance of GAVI - better support to countries with weak immunization systems, work to lower vaccine prices and support increased local production. They emphasised that innovation strategies need to be tailored to national conditions (e.g. prioritising vaccines which don't need needles and extensive cold-chains) and incorporating vaccines into wider health intervention packages/strategies. See: http://www.msfaccess.org/main/vaccines/wha-64-msf-intervention-on-global-immunisation-vision-and-strategy/

Then there was a joint statement from HAI/TWN/PHM/Berne/IBFAN which highlighted the need for clear rules of engagement to address conflicts of interest in the Decade of Vaccines collaboration. See http://haieuropestaffblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/statement-on-conflicts-if-interest.html

This afternoon I'll try and catch the end of the HIV strategy and follow a bit of WIPO's activities as they're discussing 'patents and health' at the moment so more to follow later.