Indonesia set to introduce pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) into routine immunisation programme
Barcelona, 29 January 2020 – The Government of Indonesia, with support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is planning to introduce pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) into its national routine immunisation programme, protecting more than four million children against pneumococcal disease – the leading cause of deadly pneumonia worldwide – every year.
Pneumonia is one of the biggest killers of children in Indonesia, with the pneumococcus bacteria contributing to an estimated 500,000 cases of pneumonia and close to 10,000 deaths in the country every year.
Indonesia, which is currently prioritising reducing infant mortality, plans to expand vaccination against pneumococcal disease. Through Gavi’s Advance Market Commitment (AMC) mechanism, it will be able to access pneumococcal vaccines for a quarter of the previous cost and therefore the country will be able to expand the vaccine nationwide.
As part of his keynote address at the Barcelona Pneumonia Forum, Suharso Monoarfa, Indonesia’s Minister for National Development Planning, said, "It gives me great pleasure today to announce that the Government of Indonesia is committed in proceeding with the special mechanism for PCV procurement through the Gavi Advance Market Commitment. We appreciate the support of Gavi, UNICEF and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in helping to make this happen."
“Gavi’s ultimate goal is to ensure children in the developing world have the same access to lifesaving vaccines as children in the West,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “Our work with pneumococcal vaccine shows how successful this effort has been – 60 countries have so far introduced this relatively new vaccine with support from the AMC, protecting over 183 million children against this deadly disease, and coverage in Gavi-supported countries is now higher than the global average.”
The AMC process began in 2009 when the governments of Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia and Norway, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, committed funds to guarantee the price of PCV vaccines once developed. In exchange, companies signed a legally binding commitment to provide the vaccines at a price affordable to developing countries in the long term.
Complex vaccines like PCV used to take as long as 15 years to reach the poorest countries after their introduction in industrialised nations. Thanks to the AMC, pneumococcal vaccine has now been introduced in 60 countries across Africa and Asia with a coverage rate of 48% compared to a global average of 47%.
Through the AMC countries have been able to access two types of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) manufactured by Pfizer and GSK, with a total of three different presentations. In January the AMC Board ruled that an additional pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII), is now eligible for the AMC.
Since summer 2019 the SII vaccine has been listed on the menu for Gavi-supported countries to apply to introduce into their routine immunisation programmes, or switch to. If conditions for a new AMC tender, including sufficient country demand, materialise then SII can participate and benefit from this demand. The tender, which would be managed by UNICEF Supply Division, would determine the price for the new SII vaccine and the number of doses required.
Notes to editors
About Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases. Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has helped to immunise a whole generation – over 760 million children – and prevented more than 13 million deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 developing countries. Gavi also plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting health systems as well as funding global stockpiles for Ebola, cholera, meningitis and yellow fever vaccines. After two decades of progress, Gavi is now focused on protecting the next generation and reaching the unvaccinated children still being left behind, employing innovative finance and the latest technology – from drones to biometrics – to save millions more lives, prevent outbreaks before they can spread and help countries on the road to self-sufficiency. Learn more at www.gavi.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
The Vaccine Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. View the full list of donor governments and other leading organizations that fund Gavi’s work here.