Watch Global Pneumonia Summit Live Right Now

Nov 2nd, 2009 5:20 PM EST
By Virginia Simmons

Today is World Pneumonia Day and you can watch the Global Pneumonia Summit live right now.

Child advocates from around the world are gathering in New York City to hear the latest on how we can raise the profile of child pneumonia and get policymakers everywhere to act.

Speakers include:

• Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to the United Nations’ Secretary-General
• Singer-songwriter and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angélique Kidjo
• ABC News’ senior health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser
• WHO and UNICEF present a new report, the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia, which provides a road map for preventing and treat child pneumonia in the world’s poorest countries.
• And leading global health experts, philanthropists, faith-based leaders, corporate representatives and child advocates to begin to change the way the world responds to the #1 killer of children—pneumonia.

New Mechanism for Fighting Pneumoccocal Disease Launched

Jun 15th, 2009 2:14 PM EST
By Lisa.Fleisher

Today in Lecce, Italy, several donors fulfilled their promise to commit $1.5 billion to fight pneumococcal disease, which includes pneumonia, and is one of the biggest killers of children in developing countries around the world. In 2007, Finance Ministers from Canada, Italy, Norway, Russia, and the UK, gathered in Rome with the GAVI Alliance, the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, and WHO and pledged to adopt an innovative mechanism to finance vaccines for pneumococcal disease called Advance Market Commitments. Today that pledge became reality.

Every year, pneumococcal disease kills 1.6 million people, more than a million of whom are under five years of age. Pneumonia, the most common form of pneumococcal disease kills one in four children in developing countries, making it the primary cause of death among young children. A vaccine for these diseases could save millions of lives over the coming years.

A vaccine for pneumococcal disease has existed since 2000, and is already part of routine vaccinations for children in developed countries. However, there is not an affordable vaccine for developing countries. The AMC frontloads financing for the vaccine so that once it is available, it will cost developing countries $3.50 per dose instead of the $70 per dose it costs in developed countries. Over the past two years, the donors involved in the AMC have been working to finalize the legal, financial, and regulatory components of the project. Today, the AMC became fully operational.

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and panel member at the launch of ONE’s DATA Report yesterday, said “This innovative new model will mean faster access to vaccines for millions of children in poor countries. It’s a great example of how innovation and technology together can produce life-saving advances and make them available to people who need them around the world”.
For more information, read the press release from GAVI Alliance.

-Lisa Fleisher