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November 29, 2006 Approval of the “Investment Case” for rotavirus vaccines We are very pleased to share the news that the GAVI Alliance has pledged to provide financial support for the use of rotavirus vaccines by developing countries. The GAVI Alliance Board of Directors, meeting in Berlin, today agreed to subsidize the purchase of rotavirus vaccines. Today’s pledge of support from the GAVI Alliance will bring these lifesaving interventions to the developing world with unprecedented speed. This investment will set in motion the potential to prevent an estimated 370,000 childhood deaths in the world’s poorest countries by 2015, as well as prevent over 14 million hospitalizations and clinic visits, and save more than $71 million in direct medical costs. At the request of the GAVI Secretariat, the PATH Rotavirus Vaccine Program (RVP) and its partners, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, prepared the “Investment Case” for rotavirus vaccines, which detailed the burden of rotavirus disease, the cost-effectiveness of rotavirus vaccines, and the potential health benefits of introducing rotavirus vaccines in GAVI-eligible countries around the world. The GAVI Alliance Board accepted RVP’s recommendations of a staggered financing strategy involving two phases of investment. In the first phase, GAVI-eligible countries in the Latin American and European regions can apply beginning next year for GAVI financing. GAVI will consider a second phase of financing for African and Asian countries in 2010, following the results of large-scale efficacy clinical trials in Africa and Asia. The financial decision taken by GAVI also includes funding for ongoing strategic and technical support to ensure the successful introduction of rotavirus vaccines, and to help the African and Asian regions prepare for introduction. GAVI’s decision to finance the purchase of rotavirus vaccines for developing countries will help establish an affordable, sustainable supply of rotavirus vaccines by stimulating the development of a mature market. Click here to learn more. We are pleased and proud to contribute to the accelerated introduction of these life-saving vaccines. John R. Wecker,
PhD |
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The PATH Rotavirus Vaccine Program is supported by the GAVI Alliance. |