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GHTC statement to the WHO Executive Board on Immunization Agenda 2030

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

In advance of the 150th session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board, GHTC is calling on WHO and member states to strengthen vaccine-related research and innovation to advance next-generation COVID-19 vaccines that address variants and delivery challenges, new vaccines to combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, and new innovations to improve manufacturing and vaccine storage and administration. 

January 24, 2022

The following statement focuses on the 150th World Health Organization Executive Board meeting agenda item 11: “Immunization Agenda 2030.”

Many recent scientific and multilateral agency reports and publications suggest that overall, immunization took a step backward in the past two years. Despite the tireless efforts of countless immunization program staff and health workers to ensure the availability of vaccination services, vaccination coverage globally fell for the first time in a decade. The COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed immunization infrastructure and workforce, impacted the global supply chain, increased the incidence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and derailed gains made in immunization campaigns around the world. Immunization is a pillar of people-centered primary health care, and we urge the World Health Organization (WHO) and member states to strengthen vaccine-related research and innovation with the most vulnerable populations in mind. 

GHTC calls on WHO and member states to: 

  1. Accelerate and expand the COVAX facility research and development agenda to advance next-generation COVID-19 vaccines, including “variant-proof” COVID-19 vaccines and shots that could provide wide protection against coronaviruses, vaccines with optimized dosing, and vaccines more suitable for delivery in low-resource settings. World leaders must also do everything in their power to correct the shameful lack of equitable access to these lifesaving tools. 
  2. Focus on the full spectrum of innovations that support immunization programs. The near term will inevitably be dominated by a continuing focus on COVID-19 vaccine rollouts. Nevertheless, it is vital that these activities are also leveraged to strengthen vaccine manufacturing capacities, storage, administration, and co-administration with other health interventions as well as novel service delivery, including focused “test & vaccinate” strategies as recently recommended by the Gavi board.
  3. Align immunization efforts with those to combat AMR. As highlighted by the recent research study published in The Lancet, drug-resistant bacteria kill 1.27 million people a year, the great majority of them in low- and middle-income countries. Children under 5 are particularly vulnerable. These shocking numbers require dramatic commitment against AMR, well above what has been funded thus far. Development of new vaccines could substantially reduce the burden of disease, especially for children under 5 in low-income settings. 
  4. Support implementation research and the development of formal feedback loops to monitor follow-up of recommendations made by groups such as the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization and regional immunization technical advisory groups. 
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Research Roundup: Rapid gonorrhea test, Prequalified cholera vaccine, Next-gen bed nets

Written by Hannah Sachs-Wetstone / GHTC
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Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. The Combating Antibiotic Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) last week announced that it will award up to $1 million to the company Scout to develop a rapid, inexpensive, and easy-to-use point-of-care diagnostic test for gonorrhea, which could expand access to testing and proper treatment in the face of a rise in gonorrhea cases and drug-resistant gonorrhea cases globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The test, STI-Scout, is designed to detect and differentiate between Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomitis and can provide results in only 30 minutes using urine samples or vaginal swabs at less than half the cost of other available tests. The test uses a proven isothermal technology that was validated for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Last week, EuBiologics and the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) announced that the World Health Organization (WHO) had prequalified Euvichol-S, an improved oral cholera vaccine produced with a simplified method that will hopefully help to address the rise of cholera outbreaks globally and a dire vaccine supply shortage. The vaccine, whose development was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is produced in a way that can improve formulation and manufacturing productivity by 40 percent compared to the company’s prior oral cholera vaccine and demonstrated efficacy in a Phase 3 trial in Nepal last year. The prequalification paves the way for United Nations agencies and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to buy the vaccine for countries experiencing outbreaks.The New Nets Project, funded by Unitaid and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, recently reported results from several pilot studies showing that a pair of second-generation bed nets tested in malaria-endemic areas helped to prevent up to 13 million additional cases of malaria, saving close to 25,000 lives—exciting news that comes as malaria cases, as well as resistance to the standard insecticide used to treat nets, rise globally. The studies found that the new nets, the Interceptor G2 and Royal Guard—which both use dual insecticides to address resistance—were between 20 and 50 percent more effective than traditional nets, which only use pyrethroid insecticide, in reducing mosquito exposure and reduced the risk of infection by up to 55 percent. Although the new nets are more expensive, the additional cost seems to be offset by the public health savings of malaria prevention. Researchers expect malaria parasites to eventually become resistant to the new nets, highlighting the need for continued research into other methods of vector control, as well as ensuring population-scale protection through vaccination.