G8 summit focus on infectious diseases welcomed by NGOs

The World Health Organization; the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization Alliance have jointly welcomed the emphasis on infectious diseases by the Group of Eight for their summit in St Petersburg, Russia, to be held July 15-17.

In a joint statement, the four organizations said: "the G8 leaders have long recognized that AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and vaccine-preventable diseases slow economic development, perpetuate poverty and threaten security in large parts of the world," adding that, "the threat of an influenza pandemic has focussed international attention on the need for all countries to be better prepared."

Julian Lob-Leyt, executive secretary of the GAVI Alliance, spoke of the need to "underpin the numerous separate health initiatives currently underway, including the introduction of new life-saving vaccines and technologies." He added that G8 funding for an Advance Market Commitment program would be helpful, a measure that has little support among the global pharmaceutical industry and is controversial in academic circles (Marketletter February 20). Critics argue that funds earmarked for AMCs would be better used to ensure that existing vaccines can be delivered to the world's poorest countries.