GAVI Alliance announces plans to roll out vaccines in countries isolated by war, secrecy

The New York Times reports on efforts by the GAVI Alliance to deliver vaccines for children in war-torn and secretive countries. According to the newspaper, the non-profit group "sold to North Korea a vaccine against five diseases, and has announced plans to roll out other vaccines soon in Yemen, the Republic of Congo and Pakistan." The newspaper notes that the alliance "does not do the vaccinating, but negotiates low prices from manufacturers and resells the vaccines at prices on a sliding scale, depending on a country's gross national income per capita." According to the New York Times, "[F]irst the group studies whether the country can use the vaccine -- whether officials can keep it refrigerated even in rural villages, for example, and whether there are enough trained vaccinators" (McNeil, 7/30).