These 3 vaccines could save lives across the Pacific, but they would blow vaccine budgets by up to 775%

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-02-13 06:00

Australia; Pacific; VIC; WA

CDC - Public domain

A 10 year vaccination program against rotavirus, human papillomavirus and pneumococcal disease could save over 1,000 lives across Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, but it could use up as much as 775% of a country's vaccine budget, according to Australian-led research. The researchers say inclusion of these three vaccines will place considerable burden on immunisation budgets, and financial sustainability requires increases in immunisation budgets and negotiation of affordable vaccine prices.

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Journal/
conference: PLOS Medicine

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), The Kids Research Institute Australia, UNICEF Pacific Islands Office, Fiji, Ministry of Health, Tonga, Ministry of Health, Tuvalu, Ministry of Health, Samoa

Funder: This analysis was funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB; https://www.adb.org/), through the design for the Systems Strengthening for Effective Coverage of New Vaccines in the Pacific project (grant number: 50282-002, https://www.adb.org/projects/50282-002/main#project-pds). This grant was awarded to FMR and supported the salaries of FMR, NC, EW, and KJ. Additionally, NC was supported by the University of Melbourne McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellowship (grant awarded 2014; https://sites.research.unimelb.edu.au/research-funding/researcher-development-schemes/mckenzie-fellowship). FMR was supported by a NHMRC Translating Research into Practice Grant (grant number: 1150267, https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/funding/nhmrc-grant-program). MJ was supported by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (https://www.gavi.org/) and the Gates Foundation (https://www.gatesfoundation.org/) via the Vaccine Impact Modelling Consortium (grant number: INV-034281). ADB were involved the study design, decision to publish and preparation of the manuscript, however had no role in data collection and data analysis. The other funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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