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Médecins Sans Frontières is calling for the cost of the life-saving pneumococcal vaccine to be slashed, as it has become prohibitively expensive for poorer countries. Tell us how much it is costing you

• Pharmaceutical companies told to slash price of pneumococcal disease vaccine

Aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has called for pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer to cut the costs of the pneumococcal vaccine for children in developing countries, so that poor countries can continue to offer the vaccine as part of their immunisation programs. In a report comparing vaccine prices around the world, MSF found the domination of the market by a small group of pharmaceutical companies has caused prices to soar, with the cost of a basic vaccine package increasing 68% in the past 14 years.

The pneumococcal vaccine, which helps protect people against pneumonia and meningitis, accounts for 45% of the total cost to vaccinate a child today. MSF wants the cost of the pneumococcal vaccine reduced to $5 per child. The agency’s vaccines policy adviser Kate Elder said pharmaceutical companies charged different prices in different markets for the same product. “We have an irrational situation where some developing countries like Morocco and Tunisia are paying more for the pneumococcal vaccine than France does,” she said. “Because of the astronomical cost of new vaccines, many governments are facing tough choices about which deadly diseases they can afford to protect their children against.”

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