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Article

16 Nov 2016

Author:
Jason Cone, Executive Director, Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

MSF pushes pharmaceutical companies to lower vaccine prices in an effort to improve long-term access to medicine

"There is no such thing as “free” vaccines: Why we rejected Pfizer’s donation offer of pneumonia vaccines", 9 Oct 2016

 …As the only producers of the pneumonia vaccine, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) are able to keep the price…artificially high…[W]e have been trying to negotiate with the companies to lower the price…but they offered us donations instead… Donations often involve numerous conditions and strings attached…[They] can also undermine long-term efforts to increase access to affordable vaccines and medicines… [P]harmaceutical corporations can use this as justification for why prices remain high for others…[T]he…WHO and other leading global health organizations…have clear recommendations against donation offers from pharmaceutical corporations...Pfizer and GSK assured us that they would work on a longer-term solution for children caught in crisis and developing countries…GSK announced that it would offer its pneumonia vaccine to humanitarian organizations at the lowest global price…This is an important step towards a sustainable solution for humanitarian organizations that wish to extend the benefits of pneumonia vaccination to children caught in crisis...We can no longer live in a world where a vaccine that protects children against pneumonia is a luxury…