Companies refuse to lower meningitis vaccine prices

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" Companies Refuse to Lower Meningitis Vaccine Prices "

PANA Wire Service (allafrica.com) (09/26/02)

Sources at a World Health Organization (WHO) meningitis meeting

in Burkina Faso say that pharmaceutical companies have rejected

requests to lower the price of the tetravalent meningitis vaccine

to $1 a dose for countries that frequently experience epidemics

of the disease. The best offer was reportedly made by

GlaxoKline, at $2.75 a dose. Experts said that many nations

where the disease is prevalent, especially those in Africa,

cannot afford the vaccine. They also expressed concern that the

vaccines currently being used in the African meningitis belt do

not protect against the W135 strain, which they said could spread

from Burkina Faso to other countries in the region.