BILL AND MELINDA GATES ANNOUNCE A $100 MILLION GIFT TO ESTABLISH THE BILL AND MELINDA GATES CHILDREN'S VACCINE PROGRAM PROGRAM SUPPORTED BY LEADING MEMBERS OF WORLD HEALTH COMMUNITY AND EXPERTS IN INTERNATIONAL CHILDHOOD DISEASES NEW YORK, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- Bill and Melinda Gates todayannounced the establishment of the Bill and Melinda Gates Children's VaccineProgram to accelerate access to new vaccines for children in developingnations. The goal of the $100 million program is to significantly reduce the time it currently takes for vaccines to reach children living in poor countries.The program will begin immediately with a focus on several new vaccines thatprotect children against respiratory and diarrheal disease, including Hib,pneumococcus and rotavirus vaccines, and against liver cancer throughincreased use of hepatitis B vaccine. More than two million children die each year from diseases that these vaccines could prevent. "New, life-saving vaccines quickly become available to children in thedeveloped world, but recent history show us that children in the developingworld can wait up to 15 years for the same drugs," said Bill Gates, trustee of the William H. Gates Foundation. "This is a complicated problem with a very simple goal: to make vaccinesthat you and I take for granted available to children regardless of where they live." "As parents, Bill and I know there is nothing more important than having a healthy child," said Melinda Gates, the Foundation's co-founder. "We've been blessed to live in a country where vaccines are readily available, and we want parents all over the world to have the same options for their children as we do here." "Children always bear the brunt of unequal access to health care," saidUNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy. "By partnering with respectedinternational and national organizations, the Foundation has a fighting chance to remedy some fundamental, systemic issues in vaccine availability.We all have a stake in the results of this far-reaching program." Jacques-Francois Martin, a member of the Children's Vaccine ProgramStrategic Advisory Council (SAC) who works closely with vaccine manufacturers, noted that "the pharmaceutical community is eager to help in whatever way they can. By working together we can change the system to bring equity to everyone involved." The Bill and Melinda Gates Children's Vaccine Program will be administered by PATH -- Program for Appropriate Technology in Health. PATH will host the Program Secretariat at its headquarters in Seattle and will provide direct liaison to the Foundation. The International Vaccine Institute (IVI), headquartered in Seoul, Korea, will provide an Asian Secretariat office. The SAC is currently developing a detailed work plan to supportintroductory efforts for the new vaccines in a number of carefully selectedcountries. Countries will be chosen which: * Demonstrate the capability to quickly attain high coverage with new target vaccines; * Are likely to achieve sustainability of vaccination through the establishment of long-term financing; * Demonstrate the ability to serve as catalysts and models for other countries. The work plan will likely focus on: * Disease burden and cost effectiveness studies: Efforts will be made to quantify disease burden geographically and to conduct investigations of the cost effectiveness of vaccination. These data then will be widely disseminated at both national and international levels. * Evaluation of model vaccine introduction programs: These efforts will allow national health authorities to gain experience with a new vaccine before making a commitment to full incorporation in public-sector immunization activities. * Establishment of international consensus on recommendations for vaccine use: Efforts will be made to support international conferences and the development and dissemination of strong international consensus statements and recommendations for use of the new vaccines. This is critical to empowering ministries of health, multilateral agencies and bilateral donors who can help to finance vaccines for poorer countries. * Assurance of adequate and competitive vaccine supplies:The new vaccines will be more expensive, so it is imperative that conditions be encouraged that favor maintenance of adequate supplies at the lowest possible prices. The Children's Vaccine Program web site can be found atwww.ChildrensVaccine.org. PATH is an international, nonprofit organization whose mission is toimprove health, especially the health of women and children. PATH works inpartnership with host-country governments and local agencies to assess health problems and identify and implement creative and effective solutions.PATH previously hosted the Secretariat of the International Task Force on Hepatitis B Immunization, a global initiative aimed at making hepatitis B vaccine available to children worldwide. More information about PATH is available through its website: www.path.org. The Bill and Melinda Gates Children's Vaccine Program is a program of theWilliam H. Gates Foundation. The Foundation was created in 1994 by Bill andMelinda Gates to support initiatives in education, world health andpopulation, and community giving in the Pacific Northwest. The Foundation is directed by William H. Gates Sr., retired senior partner with the law firm of Preston Gates Ellis, and is located in Seattle, Washington. The Gates have also established the Gates Library Foundation to providecomputer and Internet access to patrons at public libraries in low incomecommunities across the U.S. and Canada. Bill and Melinda Gates Children's Vaccine Program Summary New, life-saving vaccines are now available to children in theindustrialized world. Children in the developing world may have to waitdecades for these same vaccines. Each year of delay can cost the lives of two to three million children. We believe it is a human right and a moral obligation that all of the world's children have equal and timely access to new vaccines. The Bill and Melinda Gates Children's Vaccine Program will work to assurethat all children receive the full benefits of these new, life-saving vaccines without undue delay. The Program initially will focus on vaccines that protect children against respiratory, diarrhea, and liver disease. Global use of these vaccines will reduce childhood deaths by 33% and reduce liver cancer deaths by 75%. The Program will work with the World Health Organization's Global Programfor Vaccines and Immunization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the Children's Vaccine Initiative, vaccine manufacturers, governments, and nongovernmentalorganizations to address these challenges. It will be the world's largesteffort to introduce new, life-saving vaccines to developing countries. Onehundred million dollars ($100,000,000) have been allocated, representing thelargest individual gift ever made for children's vaccination. We are in the midst of one of the greatest revolutions in health in worldhistory. A large number of new vaccines are being licensed in developedcountries and more will become available in the future. It is possible thatthese vaccines could largely eliminate death caused by infectious diseases.However, there is a growing disparity in access to life-saving vaccinesbetween populations in the developed, and developing, worlds. Globally, six vaccines are in widespread use. These are vaccines againsttuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and measles. The vastmajority of children have access to these six vaccines no matter where theylive or whether they are rich or poor. The establishment of a delivery system for these vaccines and their supply to over 100 million babies each year is one of the world's greatest health achievements. More vaccines are in the pipeline. We have, or will soon have, newvaccines against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and streptococcuspneumoniae -- both of which prevent respiratory diseases, and rotavirus -- to protect children against a leading cause of diarrhea. Rapid introduction of these vaccines worldwide would save millions of children each year. However, without a new global vision of childhood immunization which is capable of securing international consensus, a broad-based will to act, and adequate financing, the widespread use of these vaccines is unlikely in the near future. The purpose of the Children's Vaccine Program is to work in globalpartnership to create this new vision, to provide the action structuresnecessary to its achievement, and to develop new financing mechanisms thatresult in broadening the resources necessary to make certain that newervaccines are included in the menu of vaccines available to all the world'schildren. Program Activities The Program will support: * Research related to the "field effectiveness" of the vaccines, the economic and social costs of diseases, and analyses of the cost-effectiveness of preventing those diseases. The information will be invaluable to health program managers and international health organizations as they make plans for future use of the vaccines. * Model immunization programs in selected countries to establish the most cost-effective means of introducing the new vaccines. * International meetings and conferences aimed at developing consensus on use of the vaccines. * An international information program to generate support for rapid introduction of the new vaccines and to help build global markets so that prices can be lowered. * Activities designed to ensure an adequate and competitive supply of vaccine and to develop funding mechanisms to supply vaccine to countries in need. * Efforts to create new and diversified financing mechanisms to support childhood global immunization. The Program will be operated with the guidance of a Strategic AdvisoryCouncil, composed of six to ten international experts in vaccinology andvaccine introduction. It will be managed by a Secretariat based at PATH(Program for Appropriate Technology in Health), a nongovernmental, nonprofit, international organization with headquarters in Seattle, Washington, USA. The Secretariat will also have an office at the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in Seoul, Korea. Many program initiatives will be undertaken by partner organizations, though some will be implemented directly by PATH and IVI. A Vaccine Producer Liaison Group, composed of industry representatives, will also be an important partner in program planning and implementation. SOURCE: William H. Gates Foundation CONTACT: Scott Wittet of PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health), 206-285-3500, or [email protected]; or Rose Berg, 425-454-0207, or cellular, 206-660-7522, or [email protected], or Laury Bryant, 425-454-0207, or cellular, 206-419-7502, both of Lucas Bryant and Berg, for PATH Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19981202/SFW002 or NewsCom, 213-237-5431 Web site: http://www.ChildrensVaccine.org Web site: http://www.path.org/