PNEUMOFOCUS

BULLETIN OF GAVI'S PNEUMOADIP AT JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
PNEUMO ADIP: PNEUMOCOCCAL VACCINES ACCELERATED DEVELOPMENT AND INTRODUCTION PLAN

Volume 1, No. 5 May, 2004
FUNDING INFORMATION
PneumoADIP’s Small Grants Program first deadline is June 15th. Please visit us online at www.preventpneumo.org for more information about the program and application procedures.

After May 30, 2004 please visit our website at www.preventpneumo.org to learn more about our Request for Applications to prepare field sites for potential large-scale evaluation of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine impact in Asia.

For ISPPD-4 highlights please see PneumoADIP’s daily special editions of PneumoFOCUS at www.preventpneumo.org.
STUDY SHOWS PNEUMOCOCCAL CONJUGATE VACCINES TO BE COST-EFFECTIVE IN WORLD'S POOREST COUNTRIES
Helsinki, Finland, May 12 – Dr. Anushua Sinha presented data today at ISPPD-4 from a recently completed PneumoADIP-sponsored study exploring the cost-effectiveness of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the world’s 75 poorest countries. In order to make informed health policy decisions policy makers need better information on the projected health benefits and cost-effectiveness of the vaccines. This study will contribute greatly to this information.

Dr. Tracy Lieu headed this investigation which was conducted at Harvard Medical School’s Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. Dr. Lieu’s group constructed a model to compare three possible situations: (1) no vaccine (2) uptake of the vaccine without Vaccine Fund (VF) support and (3) vaccine uptake with VF financing. They found that VF financing would prevent 1.92 million deaths from 2011-2020. The authors also found that at $5/dose for a three-dose regimen the vaccine would cost $US 99/ DALY, below the World Bank benchmark for cost-effectiveness of per capita Gross National Income (country range, $90-$1380). A DALY, or Disability Adjusted Life Year, is the World Bank and WHO’s unit for measuring the global burden of disease and the effectiveness of health interventions. As vaccine cost increased to $10 per dose, the cost of an averted DALY increased to $US 192. In the worst-case scenario, the cost of an averted DALY was $902. The authors are now working on WHO region-level analyses that will be extremely useful to regional policy makers.
PNEUMOADIP IS FIRST TO SPONSOR ISPPD-5
PneumoADIP is proud to be the first sponsor of the 5th International Symposium on Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Disease, April 30 – May 4, 2006 in Alice Springs, Australia.

The official launch of ISPPD-5 was done during the closing remarks of the ISPPD-4 meeting in Helsinki, Finland. It was there that the organizing committee announced PneumoADIP as the first official sponsor of the upcoming Australian meeting. PneumoADIP has pledged $US 10,000 and promised to match any other early sponsorships with additional funds up to $US 50,000.

Alice Springs is located in the heart of Australia and is often referred to as the capital of the outback. It has been chosen as an appropriate venue because the burden of invasive pneumococcal disease in young central Aboriginal children is among the highest in the world. “We are honored to have the opportunity of hosting the meeting in Australia,” say Professor Allan Cripps and Dr. Amanda Leach.

For more information please visit the ISPPD-5 website at www.isppd5.com.
RESEARCHERS UNDERSTAND GLOBAL BURDEN OF PNEUMOCOCCAL DISEASE
Helsinki, Finland, May 13 – The results of a short, PneumoADIP-conducted survey of 130 conference participants at the ISPPD-4 meeting here gave a snapshot of experts’ impressions of pneumococcal disease. Short interviews with delegates asked attendees for their estimates of yearly child deaths from pneumococcal disease; which disease out of malaria, rotavirus and pneumococcal disease kill the most children in developing countries each year; and whether or not they believed pneumococcal conjugate vaccines could be made affordable to developing countries.

Participants generally had relatively accurate understanding of the global burden of pneumococcal disease although they slightly overestimated in general. 73% of interviewees believed that 1 million or more children die each year from pneumococcal disease while the current WHO estimate is 841,000 deaths. About half of participants accurately supposed that pneumococcal disease kills the most children in developing countries out of the three choices given. And finally, participants are optimistic about the possibility of making the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine affordable in the developing world – 63% said they believed the vaccines could be made affordable.