http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/01/health/an-expansion-in-use-of-cancer-vaccine.html?ref=health&_r=0
In a recent New York Times article, Brazilian scientists and doctors have discovered a functional vaccine against cervical cancer. The article states that 80% of girls in South America get the vaccines and doctors are trying to spread the availability of vaccine to other third world countries such as India. Unfortunately, the cost of the vaccine has deterred many countries and NGO's from implementing the vaccine in their operations. Although research efforts are increasing, I think it would be important if philanthropic organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invested into methods of developing a more cost-efficient vaccine. Cervical cancer has become a major killer in Africa when combined with H.I.V. and the problems that occur with them. Although most healthcare related NGO's provide medication and treatment to the poor in the third world, not enough emphasis is placed on developing efficient methods of healthcare delivery. By focusing on effective ways to create vaccines and medications, it would be easier to send these out to an increased amount of regions around the world at a cheaper cost to producers, doctors, and scientists. As a GPP student heading to India to help with healthcare relief, I am interested to analyze the costs of medications and vaccines used by doctors in Kodaikanal.
In a recent New York Times article, Brazilian scientists and doctors have discovered a functional vaccine against cervical cancer. The article states that 80% of girls in South America get the vaccines and doctors are trying to spread the availability of vaccine to other third world countries such as India. Unfortunately, the cost of the vaccine has deterred many countries and NGO's from implementing the vaccine in their operations. Although research efforts are increasing, I think it would be important if philanthropic organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invested into methods of developing a more cost-efficient vaccine. Cervical cancer has become a major killer in Africa when combined with H.I.V. and the problems that occur with them. Although most healthcare related NGO's provide medication and treatment to the poor in the third world, not enough emphasis is placed on developing efficient methods of healthcare delivery. By focusing on effective ways to create vaccines and medications, it would be easier to send these out to an increased amount of regions around the world at a cheaper cost to producers, doctors, and scientists. As a GPP student heading to India to help with healthcare relief, I am interested to analyze the costs of medications and vaccines used by doctors in Kodaikanal.
A problem with creating more effective vaccines is that there usually is no financial incentive, especially for tropical diseases such as dengue fever and malaria. Your post reminded me about something that was discussed in my GPP 115 section.
ReplyDeletehttp://content.healthaffairs.org/content/25/2/313.long
The authors of this article proposed a priority review voucher, which was signed in 2007. This voucher gives pharmaceutical companies incentives to create cheaper medication, especially for tropical diseases. The voucher gives companies FDA priority review on the drugs they produce if they manufacture drugs for neglected tropical diseases.