Vaccine Hunters

This television programme features explorations of which vaccines are being developed in the most cutting-edge labs around the world, including labs that are working on vaccines to prevent malaria and HIV. Major developments, such as efforts to produce vaccines that could treat as well as prevent disease, are investigated. A key theme underlying these illustrations is that global partnerships are critical for success; to that end, the series features efforts being undertaken by collaborative initiatives including The GAVI Alliance (formerly known as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation), the Hib Initiative, the Rotavirus Vaccine Program at the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), and the Pneumococcal Vaccines Accelerated Development and Introduction Plan (PneumoADIP).

Specifically, screened Sundays at 0630 and 1830 GMT, the series includes:

1. An Injection of Hope (Feb. 4th) - looks at the big challenges facing the vaccine industry: making cheap vaccines and getting them to the most remote places.
2. The Price of Life (Feb. 11th) - examines how the big pharmaceutical companies are collaborating on new ways to develop and cheaper vaccines.
3. Incredible Journeys (Feb. 18th) - investigates the challenges of making sure vaccines arrive at their destination in good condition (e.g., keeping vaccines at precisely the right temperature for the whole journey from point of production to when they are injected).
4. A Cure for Poverty? (Feb. 25th) - explains why and how vaccines play a critical role in breaking the cycle of poverty.

According to organisers, three-quarters of the 130 million babies born every year are immunised, yet 28 million children in the developing world do not have access to routine immunisation and 2.5 million children die of vaccine-preventable disease each year. Specifically, an estimated 3 million cases of Hib pneumonia and meningitis occur each year in children under the age of 5 years, resulting in almost 400,000 deaths which could be prevented by the Hib vaccine. Approximately 500,000 children aged 5 or younger die from rotavirus each year; routine use of a vaccine would save 700 lives a day. The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that pneumococcal pneumonia and meningitis are responsible for 800,000 to one million child deaths each year. For every dollar spent on vaccines, an estimated US$27 dollars is saved in treatment.