Today a new study was published in the June issue of Health Affairs conducted by the GAVI Alliance (formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization), with Results for Development Institute (R4D).

The study asserts that poor countries will be hard-pressed to pay for expanded vaccine delivery without substantial outside support. Helen Saxenian, PhD, a consultant to the R4D, and fellow R4D authors Managing Director Robert Hecht and Senior Program Associate, Kira Thorien assert that strong and creative vaccine financing strategies involving international donors and low and middle income countries will therefore be needed to realize these huge potential gains from immunization.

“Without major assistance from international donors, the poorest countries will be hard-pressed to pay the costs to reach all of their children with life-saving vaccines," said Helen Saxenian of the Results for Development Institute as quoted in Reuters.

Their analysis suggested that low-income countries can be required to finance a modest share of vaccine costs, set at $0.20 per dose, whereas intermediate countries can begin to prepare to come off of GAVI Alliance program support by assuming co-financing rates that increase by 15% per year, starting at $0.20 per dose.

The countries with the "highest per capita gross national income that are graduating from the alliance's support over the next five years are best positioned to absorb the cost of vaccines as external support is phased out," the authors conclude.

According to Dr. Saxenian, the "overarching objective of the GAVI Alliance’s co-financing policy is to encourage countries along a trajectory toward financial sustainability."

To read the Health Affairs study, “An Analysis Of How The GAVI Alliance And Low- And Middle-Income Countries Can Share Costs of New Vaccines” click here.

To read the Reuters article click here.

The Health Affairs series was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a $34 billion fund devoted largely to health projects in poor countries.