MSF, GAVI Alliance vaccine discussion shows complications in global health programs

May 2 2013

Writing in the American Public Health Association International Health Section's "IH-Blog," Jessica Keralis, IH Communications Committee chair, highlights three recently released advocacy videos by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) discussing child vaccines and a subsequent conversation between MSF and the GAVI Alliance over vaccine pricing. "The last video ... talks about how qualified governments are allowed to access GAVI's low vaccine prices, but [non-governmental organizations (NGOs)] are not given access to them," Keralis writes, and she includes MSF and GAVI statements responding to the video's request to allow NGO access. "We often talk about issues of coordination (or lack thereof) and collaboration between different aid groups and funding organizations in the wake of natural disasters and humanitarian crises," she writes, adding, "It is interesting to see this kind of friction between different groups who are trying to do exactly that because of how complicated it can actually be" (4/29).