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Which vaccines to invest in and when
GAVI's strategic approach

GAVI is developing a new investment strategy to determine which vaccines to offer to countries in the future. The shortlist of vaccines under evaluation targets four deadly diseases: cervical cancer, Japanese encephalitis, rubella, and typhoid.

In the past eight years, GAVI has successfully helped increase developing countries' access to life-saving vaccines against hepatitis B, Hib, yellow fever and, most recently, rotavirus and pneumococcal diseases. Now, the Alliance's new Vaccine Investment Strategy is considering additional support for vaccines that offer protection from other deadly infections.

The strategy will attack some of the world's major killers and gives us a new challenge in our efforts to provide good health to the world's most vulnerable people" says Julian Lob-Levyt, Executive Secretary of the GAVI Alliance.

The new vaccines, which are either already available or expected in the near future, target the following diseases:

  • cervical cancer: about half a million women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, of whom about 80 percent live in developing countries.
  • typhoid:the disease remains a serious public health problem around the world, with an estimated 16-33 million cases and 216,000 to 600,000 deaths annually. 
  • Japanese encephalitis: this seasonal endemic hits parts of China, the Russian Federation's south-east, and South and South-East Asia. Estimated annual mortality ranges from 10-15,000 deaths, while the total number of clinical cases may be as high as 50,000. 
  • rubella: when a woman is infected with the rubella virus early in pregnancy, she has a 90% chance of passing the virus on to her fetus. This can cause the death of the fetus, or it may cause congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) - an important cause of severe birth defects in the ears, eyes, heart and brain. It is estimated that there are 110 000 cases of CRS each year.

The GAVI Board selected these diseases from an original shortlist of 18 provided by our partner the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2007. GAVI's choice was based on the overall disease burden that the diseases place on the world's poorest countries.

The Board will next decide whether to offer support for some or all of these vaccines to countries eligible for GAVI funding. The final decision will be based on the potential health impact as well as the costs and challenges of introducing each vaccine in developing countries.

The new investment strategy is the product of a process of consultations and analytical work. Hundreds of interviews were conducted with representatives from developing countries eligible to apply for GAVI support as well as GAVI partners, including, donor organisations, academic institutions, the pharmaceutical industry and global health leaders.

For more detailed information on GAVI's Vaccine Investment Strategy, click here