Vaccine Facts

“The people at the highest risk for infectious diseases are also the ones least able to pay for vaccines.”

So we have two Ebola vaccine under trial where as the first Malaria vaccine will be tried next year.

Fact sheet:

Ebola – As of 8 May 2016 , the World Health Organization (WHO)  reported a total of 28,616 suspected cases and 11,310 deaths in Ebola. Yet, today we have two Ebola vaccines in efficacy trials because the USA was afraid it may be used as a biological weapon against it.

Malaria – Every year, 300 to 700 million people get infected by malaria. It kills 1 million to 2 million people every year. Since 90% of the deaths occur in Africa, US is not interested. India is interested but this leaves little market incentives for manufacturers to develop vaccines against Malaria. There is no threat to people in wealthy countries.

The sad reality is that,

“Vaccine development is expensive and complicated. It can cost hundreds of millions of dollars to turn a well known antigen into a viable vaccine.”

We develop vaccines not based upon the risk the pathogen poses to people, but on how risky it is to the developed countries. 

These are the facts behind the development of a new vaccine.