Availability of quality vaccines: policies of a non-government organization

Abstract

The availability of vaccines, or any other health service, depends upon, first, the existence of a reliable system of delivery, and the effective management of this system to reach the target population and, second, the acceptance by parents or guardians of the value of the vaccine in preventing death and disability in young children and their mothers. This system must be fully funded and resourced for the foreseeable future if the service is to be sustainable. Today the major obstacles to effective immunization of young children in developing countries is the inadequate, insecure and unpredictable availability of funds and their management. Unless these problems are addressed and solved, the immunization targets set by the World Health Assembly (WHA) will not be met.

PIP: Save the Children Fund has switched its emphasis from just providing vaccines, cold chain equipment, training materials, and technical assistance to developing sustainable delivery systems for various basic health services, including vaccines. A reliable delivery system and effective management of the system determine the availability and equitable distribution of vaccines. Vaccine availability also depends on parents or guardians accepting the vaccine's worth in preventing disability and mortality in mothers and children. Save the Children attempts to influence policy and practice through its direct experience of service delivery with community and national partners. It even uses this experience to affect the international community. Structural adjustment policies and debt rescheduling, set up by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, stress capital expenditure rather than addressing recurrent costs of health and social services, e.g., immunization. Thus, they harm women and children in developing countries. Health providers worldwide must realize that simple and effective technologies can only prevent, cure, or treat infectious diseases, if they can be delivered. An effective system of delivery and distribution of services to families and communities can contain and control the HIV/AIDS pandemic which mainly affects the poor and the powerless. When groups develop health services, e.g., immunization, they must be familiar with and sensitive to local needs, local resources, local skills, attitudes, and abilities. Flexible management of resources is needed. Greater cooperation and coordination between governments, agencies, donors, health care providers, and the community is essential so developing countries can achieve and sustain an immunization coverage of at least 80%. The international community must not neglect people in developing countries as it also confronts the needs of Eastern Europe and states of the former Soviet Union. Nongovernmental groups should take a role in addressing these issues.