Global health experts explore ways to slash vaccine prices and expand access

Firmer commitments are needed from governments, manufacturers, and donors to reduce prices of new lifesaving vaccines more quickly and to expand vaccination rates in poor countries, say international officials and experts.

The philanthropist Bill Gates told ministers and officials at the 2011 World Health Assembly this week that by the end of the decade five or six new vaccines will be available and that they “must be priced low enough” so that all countries can afford them.

Mr Gates, whose foundation has pledged to spend $10bn (£6.2bn; €7.1bn) over the next decade on vaccine initiatives, said that the foundation is working towards this goal with manufacturers. He predicted: “I am confident that we can cut the combined price of the pentavalent, pneumococcus, and rotavirus vaccines in half by …