At this meeting, key leaders of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, international organizations, foundations, and the public health community will endorse the President's Millennium Vaccine Initiative, released last month, and announce new commitments to develop and deliver vaccines to developing countries. The President will also call upon Secretary Shalala to convene a meeting of experts from industry, government, and academia to address impediments to vaccine development in the private sector and to strengthen public-private partnerships. To Vaccinate The World's Children. These Private Sector Commitments Build On The Administration's Millennium Vaccine Initiative, Announced by the President In His State of the Union Address. The President Will Also Recognize the Unprecedented Contributions From The Philanthropic Community.
Immunization is one of the most cost effective health interventions.
Twenty percent of children worldwide lack access to basic immunization services. Merck will collaborate with the GAVI to identify countries that will most benefit from this vaccine. Merck committed to developing AIDS vaccines for strains of the virus found not only in the industrialized world, but in the poorest countries as well. As a result, more than 3 million children in developing nations will be protected from one of the leading causes of deadly pneumonia and meningitis. The trial would begin in the Gambia as early as this autumn.