*AFRICA-GAVI Introduces Multi-Purpose Vaccine For Deadly Diseases
*ANTHRAX: 5,000 Cases Occur Annually, WHO Expert Says

AFRICA: GAVI Introduces Multi-Purpose Vaccine For Deadly Diseases

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) has intro-
duced a breakthrough vaccine treatment for infants younger than 12
months in several African countries, the World Health Organization
announced yesterday at a three-day meeting in Entebbe, Uganda. WHO
Country Representative Walker Oladapo said the multi-immunization
Pentavalent Vaccine represents a significant scientific development
in the fight against five killer diseases -- hepatitis B, hemophilic
influenza, diphtheria, tuberculosis and tetanus.
It will be distributed as a donation in kind to countries with a per
capita gross national product of less than $1,000. Countries expected
to benefit include Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Malawi,
Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia and Angola.
Nations with a per capita GNP greater than $1,000, such as South Af-
rica and Botswana, will not benefit from the program, Oladapo said.

The Pentavalent Vaccines program will replace existing vaccines,
which immunize against a single disease at a time, and will be made
available as of next month, he said. GAVI is a coalition of govern-
ments, the Bill and Melinda Gates Children's Vaccine Program, the In-
ternational Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations,
UNICEF, the WHO and the World Bank Group. Founded in 1999, it aims to
reduce disparities in vaccine access between industrialized and de-
veloping nations and seeks to address the problem of stagnating
global immunization rates (Xinhua News Agency, Oct. 9).

ANTHRAX: 5,000 Cases Occur Annually, WHO Expert Says the specific
type of anthrax cases reported in Florida are rare but 5,000 people a
year suffer other types of anthrax infections worldwide, according to
Martin Hugh-Jones, a member of the World Health Organization's An-
thrax Research and Control Working Group. About 95 percent of the
cases involve infection through the skin after a person handles an
infected animal or animal product, according to Hugh-Jones. A small
number of cases involve eating infected meat. Inhaling the spores,
almost always fatal and believed to be the means by which the two
Florida men were exposed, is very rare, according to Hugh-Jones. The
last reported U.S. case of pulmonary anthrax was over 25 years ago,
according to the Wall Street Journal. Between 700 and 1,000 people
die each year from anthrax (Gautam Naik, Wall Street Journal, Oct.
10).

Posted by:
Dr. Leela McCullough
Director of Information Services
SATELLIFE
30 California Street, Watertown, MA 02472, USA
Tel: +1-617-926-9400
Fax:+1-617-926-1212
mailto:[email protected]
Web: http://www.healthnet.org

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