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November 22, 2002
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"Vaccines Benefit Mainly the Rich"
Reuters (www.reuters.com) (11/20/02); Arieff, Irwin
According to UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and the World Bank, most children in wealthy nations are benefiting from vaccines, while just 50 percent of children in sub-Saharan Africa are immunized against common, vaccine-preventable diseases, such as tuberculosis, pertussis, and measles, and just 20 percent of children in isolated areas of developing countries receive vaccinations. Almost 3 million people, with 2 million of them children, die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases, yet an extra $250 million in donations from wealthy countries to vaccine programs could vaccinate another 10 million children and another $100 million would lead to more access to newer vaccines, said a United Nations report. The report also calls on developing countries to increase their immunization budgets and pharmaceutical firms to increase their efforts to get vaccines to children in poor countries.
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