Why is it that you can buy a Coke or mobile phone refill cards in a remote African village but in these same villages, you cannot consistently get basic lifesaving medicines? Why are pneumonia and diarrhea still the biggest infectious disease threats for children when effective and affordable solutions to prevent and treat a large portion of deaths already exist?  What is the contribution of vaccines in creating a more productive society and wealth of nations?  These are just a few of the questions asked at the new International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC), launching on Monday December 7th at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. IVAC seeks to translate evidence into policy, and policy into access to life-saving vaccines for all children.

Indeed, access is a hot topic. When I told several people about IVAC, the most common reaction is great – we really need this! There are many groups working in research or policy or in program implementation, but the bridge to ensuring access remains a challenge. On the surface, solutions can seem simple – show the need, build awareness and provide the solution at a low enough price and it will reach those that need it most.  Some try to help by providing vaccines, medicines or supplies, but that often creates more challenges than benefit because of concerns about sustainability.    Even with country level policies and commitments from donors to fund new interventions, implementation can see many stumbling blocks with uptake not reaching forecasted levels.  Sometimes it is because the health system is not strong enough.  Should that be a reason for delay of a life-saving intervention if the delivery platform is imperfect?  If the implementers are not entirely convinced, it is a strong barrier and one with the potential to impact manufacturers’ willingness to supply or donors’ willingness to fund if countries can’t show that they are appropriately using resources.  This must be played against the potential to save lives, however.

The solutions are not always obvious and require strong interaction between various groups of stakeholders. Our experience has shown that as evidence is established, a focus on how it is communicated and placed in contexts of the demands of other priorities can make a difference with decision makers.  Building an investment case in a rigorous fashion with transparent communication of assumptions can help improve success in getting needed funding.   Establishing policies that are supportive of action is also key to success, and doing so in a time frame that will optimize impact on health requires political will and leadership as well as dedicated efforts to put policy into action. Paying attention to the system challenges early on and the potential solutions that will be needed early on in the process is also critical.  The cost of delay is measureable in lives lost. IVAC will aim to analyze the barriers and opportunities influencing equitable global access to vaccines and work with stakeholders to implement solutions that accelerate introduction of life-saving interventions.

Related posts:

1. Saving Money while Saving Lives: The Economic Argument for Childhood Vaccination
2. Can 30 seconds of your time change a child’s life?
3. Written Public Testimony to House Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation: Championing a More Active Role for NIST in the Life Sciences
4. Payment Reform: A System-wide Solution to Medication Adherence
5. If he could speak, what would he tell our leaders? Tell them for him.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 5th, 2009 at 10:04 am and is filed under Advocacy, Innovation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.