According to a statement issued by World Health Organization, six developing countries will receive 2.5 million dollars each to help fund the production of influenza vaccine.<>Japan has provided 8 million dollars and the United States 10 million to fund the transfer of technology and help Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam set up domestic manufacturing.
The move comes as the WHO tries to ensure developing countries have equal access to vaccines. The debate over accessibility has intensified recently in a row over sample sharing regarding the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, with developing countries concerned that they had unequal access to the drugs eventually developed and marketed.
“It is imperative that the global community works collectively to ensure more equitable access to a vaccine and other health measures in the event of an influenza pandemic. We all have a responsibility to protect global public health security,” said Dr David Heymann, assistant director-general for communicable diseases at the WHO.
“Global public health security can only be realized if developing countries are assisted in developing the capabilities to access pandemic vaccines and protect their populations,” he added.
Seasonal influenza causes up to half a million deaths worldwide every year. Current vaccine manufacturing falls billions of doses short of what would be required to protect the six billion people in the world in the event of a pandemic.
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt said: “These grants are an important step forward in the global effort to prepare for an influenza pandemic, and I am proud the United States was able to contribute to the support of this funding.”
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