Some 34 billion dollars are needed to immunise the world's most deprived children over the next 10 years, a global vaccine expert said Thursday. The expenditure "would considerably bring down the number of deaths among children from diseases such as polio, tetanus and measles for which vaccines are easily available," said Julian Lob-Levyt.
Lob-Levyt is executive Secretary of the US-based Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), a public-private partnership working towards global immunisation.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a three-day GAVI meeting which assembled some 400 public health experts, vaccine manufacturers, policymakers and government representatives from around the world.
The official said the biggest challenge in eradicating diseases such as measles and polio is the poor health services in many developing countries. About 2.5 million children under the age of five die each year from preventable diseases, he said.
"We can prevent these deaths through the use of existing vaccines," Lob-Levyt told AFP. In the past five years since its launch, GAVI has increased use of vaccines in South Asian and African countries. Its programme has mainly targeted hepatitis B, yellow fever and bacterial meningitis which are acute problems in many areas.
During this period, usage of these vaccines increased from five percent to 50 percent of the targeted youngsters, Lob-Levyt said. The vaccine alliance works in partnership with the World Health Organisation, the United Nations and several governments and private organisations.
In addition to its existing work, it is now focusing on developing new vaccines over the next five years aimed at combating malaria and tuberculosis.
It is also seeking to eradicate cases of polio world-wide by 2008.