The GAVI Alliance, which introduces life-saving vaccines to developing countries, announced yesterday that the price of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has seen a drastic cut from US$13 per dose to US$4.50 per dose (the price in high-income countries can be more than US$100 per dose). Tens of millions of women in developing countries can now be protected against cervical cancer through the vaccine, which protects against 70 percent of the strains of cervical cancer.

Whew (or should I say WIW?)—last week made for quite a busy World Immunization Week 2013!  From Abu Dhabi to Washington, D.C., we saw an impressive breadth and depth of news, activities, and accomplishments from many of our partners working to improve access to life-saving vaccines around the world. Now that we’ve had the weekend

More than half a million children still die from malaria every year. Any day a child dies of a preventable disease is not a happy day, but those working to fight malaria – and that number includes activists like you and I – should give ourselves a pat on the back for being a part of the political action that has increased funding for the work on the ground, enabling a 25 percent drop in malaria deaths globally since 2000. HBO’s Mary and Martha shows the reality of both the sickness and the activism involved.