Merck & Co., Inc. launched the Merck Vaccine Network-Africa (MVN-A), an initiative designed to contribute to improving the immunization infrastructure in Africa. The multi-year programme will fund the establishment of a network of vaccination training centers at academic institutions in Kenya and Mali to provide a sustainable source of skilled health care workers in those countries and across the region. Africa has the highest per capita burden of vaccine-preventable diseases in the world, with only half of all children in sub-Saharan Africa getting basic life-saving vaccinations during their first year of life.
"There is no single answer to the challenge of increasing access to vaccines in African countries and other developing nations. It will take multiple organizations, applying different approaches and solutions, to effectively address the problem," said Adel Mahmoud, MD, PhD, president, Merck Vaccines. "The MVN-A programme is one model that is aimed at supporting a vaccination delivery and management infrastructure in regions where there remains a shortage of basic health care."
As part of the MVN-A launch, The Merck Company Foundation has awarded grants to two academic collaborations that will work together to develop training programmes in Africa. The collaboration in Kenya is between the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis and Moi University Faculty of Health Sciences in Eldoret, Kenya.
The collaboration in Mali is between the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and the Center for Vaccine Development - Mali at the Centre National d'Appui à la Lutte contre la Maladie in Bamako, Mali. Each collaboration is supported with funding from The Merck Company Foundation of a maximum of $200,000 per grant year, for up to four years.
The MVN-A program supports Merck's commitment to the Global Alliance for Vaccines & Immunizations (GAVI), a public-private partnership focused on increasing children's access to vaccines in poor countries. Each collaboration will use training curricula based on educational materials developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners of GAVI. Over the next few months, the faculty of the academic institutions will assemble programme staff, identify and recruit eligible trainees and finalize the curriculum. The first group of trainees is expected to enroll in the fall of 2004.
MVN-A is the fourth programme launched by Merck in Africa. The programme reflects the company's commitment to improving access to medicines in the developing world through disease education, training and services initiatives.
Merck is focusing its efforts on Africa because the continent bears the highest per capita burden of vaccine-preventable diseases and has the highest concentration of GAVI-eligible nations in the world. Fifty per cent of children in sub-Saharan Africa do not receive basic vaccinations during their first year of life, according to the WHO, UNICEF and the World Bank in a study released in November 2002 The report points out that vaccination rates in sub-Saharan Africa fell dramatically in the 1990's while many areas of the world saw vaccination rates increase substantially.
Other Merck initiatives addressing health issues in Africa include the 16-year-old Merck Mectizan Donation Program, the UN/Industry Accelerating Access Initiative and the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership (ACHAP) in Botswana. ACHAP is a partnership with the government of Botswana, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Merck and The Merck Company Foundation.