Balasubramaniam K V and Dr V. Sita
Access to vaccines is a critical issue in ensuring the health of children, especially in the developing countries. Access is currently limited due to limited money available for vaccine procurement, high prices of new vaccines for existing and emerging diseases and poor health delivery infrastructure in developing countries. The vaccine industry has only paid lip service to the cause of immunization of the world’s children. They have kept their profit maximization objective foremost even in the interactions with the international agencies and with health partnership initiatives. However, if they avoid such selfish pursuits and look at shared value with society, much can be gained in the immunization of children and their health. The vaccine industry must shed its reticence, respond to the economic and technological demands of immunization and work towards making immunization affordable and accessible to all. This paper scans the vaccine industry and analyzes the issues concerning vaccine access and the role played by the industry.