"Companies Refuse to Lower Meningitis Vaccine Prices"
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"Companies Refuse to Lower Meningitis Vaccine
Prices"
PANA Wire Service (allafrica.com) (09/26/02)
Sources at a World Health Organization (WHO)
meningitis meeting in Burkina Faso say that pharmaceutical companies have
rejected requests to lower the price of the tetravalent meningitis vaccine to $1
a dose for countries that frequently experience epidemics of the disease. The
best offer was reportedly made by GlaxoSmithKline, at $2.75 a dose. Experts
said that many nations where the disease is prevalent, especially those in
Africa, cannot afford the vaccine. They also expressed concern that the
vaccines currently being used in the African meningitis belt do not protect
against the W135 strain, which they said could spread from Burkina Faso to other
countries in the region.
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