"We welcome the intervention of people with resources who can develop a vaccine for HIV. But we must make certain that that guidelines are in place to ensure that AIDS vaccines will be affordable by the poorest of the poor."

Nelson Mandela

The historical paradigm for fostering use of new vaccines in developing countries has been a colossal public health failure.

For all modern day vaccines, the path to market has been immediate availability in industrialized countries at high prices (to make back the R & D costs); only a decade or so later do relatively cheap versions of the product trickle into developing countries. This paradigm should be unacceptable for any vaccine, but especially for a vaccine against AIDS, which continues to ravage the developing world.

Currently the world spends only about US$300-350 million on AIDS vaccine research and development, less than 2% of the US$20B spent on overall expenditures on HIV/AIDS. Much of this is from national research agencies for basic research. It is industry that makes products and industry has not had the incentives to invest heavily in product development and has had virtually negative incentives to invest in creating products for developing country. As a result, the vaccine pipeline is narrow and few products are moving forward.

Ensuring swift, equitable access to HIV/AIDS vaccines is a global moral and public health imperative - but one that will require radical changes in the global approach to vaccine production, licensure, pricing, purchasing, and distribution. IAVI proposes a new paradigm for vaccine development in which vaccines are developed that are appropriate for use in those parts of the world that need them most, and in which their availability is assured in both South and North from the beginning.

Read more about the Economics of AIDS vaccines.

Accelerating an AIDS vaccine for developing countries: Recommendations for the World Bank

IAVI Briefing Paper: Public Policy Initiatives to Accelerate the Global Search for an Effective AIDS Vaccine

IAVI's Intellectual Property Agreements: Using "Social Venture Capital" to Help Ensure Global Access to AIDS Vaccines

AIDS Vaccine for the World: Preparing Now to Assure Access, An IAVI Blueprint

From The Daily Davos: Pushing and Pulling