UNICEF Lists Vaccine Prices to Drive Down Cost
- By BSTQ Staff
In a move to spark price competition as costs rise, UNICEF is publicizing how much drugmakers are charging it for vaccines. In May, UNICEF posted on its website the actual prices that it has paid individual drugmakers for 16 vaccines purchased over the last decade, hoping to cut prices so that the organization can vaccinate more children and save more lives.
Last year, UNICEF spent $757 million to provide 2.5 billion doses of vaccines to 99 countries, reaching about 58 percent of the world’s children. Its price list shows significant disparities, with Western drugmakers often charging UNICEF double what companies in India and Indonesia charge.