LONDON (Reuters) - Three global health bodies are teaming up to investigate stockpiling experimental vaccines for rare infectious diseases so the shots can be tested more quickly when outbreaks happen, a top official from vaccine alliance Gavi told Reuters.
The initiative will be led by Gavi, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and is likely to be announced later on Tuesday after Gavi’s board approved it at a meeting earlier in the day.
It will focus initially on Marburg and the Sudan strain of Ebola, after outbreaks of the two deadly viral haemorrhagic fevers in Africa last year. There are no existing vaccines or proven treatments available for either of the infections.
If successful, the scheme – known as the global virtual pooled inventory (GVPI) – could be a pilot for other deadly diseases and wider pandemic preparedness, officials said, which are an increasing threat due to factors like climate change.
In Uganda last year, 55 people died in the Ebola outbreak and there were 142 confirmed cases, according to WHO. Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania saw 25 confirmed Marburg cases and 18 deaths in total. There were a further 23 probable cases, all of whom died, in Equatorial Guinea, which had never experienced Marburg before.
