What can be done

Immunizations in Low-Income Countries

The extension of vaccinations to Low-Income Countries has evolved through three phases:

  1. a first phase where industrialized countries or international organizations donated vaccines to poor countries, using vaccines already developed in the more advanced countries for the primary series of pediatric vaccinations, that is: diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio. Later hepatitis B, Hemophilus influenza type b and measles were added, initially produced in industrialized countries, then also in part in the Low-Income Countries,
  2. a second phase in which more complex and costly vaccines were adapted to the needs of the Low-Income Countries following a commitment on the part of financiers to purchase a certain quantity based on the population to be immunized (Conjugate Pneumococcus Advanced Market Commitment),
  3. a third phase begun a few years ago, in which new vaccines particularly effective in children, the highest-risk age group, are developed for use in poor countries through agreements with institutions and manufacturers working in the poor or emerging countries (Product Development Partnership).

Deaths of children under age five, by MDG region (‘000).

Source: Child Mortality Report 2016, WHO