Market information for access to vaccines (MI4A): project overview

MI4A Project Overview – WHO/IVB/19.02| March 2018 What is MI4A? A World Health Organization (WHO) initiative, Market Information for Access to Vaccines (MI4A), has been launched to contribute to the achievement of Strategic Development Goal 3.8 (Universal Health Coverage target) by enhancing access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable vaccines for all. MI4A is part of the broader WHO effort to ensure availability of Essential Medicines and responds to specific requests from Member States and the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) to address vaccine market information gaps. A key component of the Immunization Vaccines & Biologicals departmental work plan, MI4A provides a unique global perspective on vaccine markets, covering all countries and vaccines with objectives to: • Enhance the understanding of global vaccine demand, supply and pricing dynamics and identifying affordability and shortage risks; • Convene all relevant global health partners to contribute to the development of policies, strategies, and guidance to address the identified risks; • Strengthen national and regional capacity for improved access to vaccines supply. MI4A focuses in particular on addressing the needs of self- procuring countries that do not benefit from international support such as financing from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and UNICEF Supply Division (SD) or PAHO Revolving Fund (RF) procurement services. Among these, middle-income countries face the greatest challenge of ensuring sustainable access to vaccine supply, given their relatively limited financial resources. MI4A builds on the success of the WHO Vaccine Product, Price and Procurement (V3P) project and two pilot market studies (BCG and Diphtheria and Tetanus-containing vaccines) conducted in 2017. Who is involved and how does MI4A work? MI4A is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and is a collaboration between WHO, Linksbridge SPC and MMGH Consulting. It builds on the infrastructure and data analytics capabilities of Linksbridge’s Global Vaccine Market Model (GVMM) and leverages input and support from global partners such as the PAHO RF, UNICEF, Gavi, BMGF, WHO regional offices, and vaccine manufacturers. SAGE Meeting (April 2016) – Session on Pre-empting and Responding to Vaccine Supply Shortages SAGE recommended that WHO play “a key role in setting up an ‘Exchange Forum’, helping to collect demand information from all member states and to enhance dialogue between countries and manufacturers on supply availability and threats to vaccine supply”. WHA requested the Director- General “to support Member States in addressing the global challenges of medicines and vaccines shortages by developing a global medicine shortage notification system that would include information to better detect and understand the causes of medicines shortages”. WHA Resolution 69.25 (May 2016) – Addressing the Global Shortage of Medicines and Vaccines WHA requested the Director- General to continue “working with Member States to increase availability of (vaccine) price information”. WHA Resolution 68.6 (May 2015) – Global Vaccine Action Plan MI4A Project Overview – WHO/IVB/19.02| March 2018 MI4A benefits from the expertise of a standing advisory group for input, review and validation of project outputs. Meeting twice per year, the group includes members from all identified global partners, along with other experts, and provides crucial insights on market shaping, procurement, international funding for health, manufacturing, immunization policy, and delivery. What outputs are generated? MI4A focuses on vaccines that have availability constraints, affordability issues, or that are subject to important policy or vaccine pipeline changes. Annually, MI4A produces two Global Market Studies, analyzing demand and supply prospects for WHO’s 194 Member States. The studies identify areas of risk for sustainable access to vaccine supply and define mitigating actions. Existing studies are updated annually, working to progressively cover all vaccines included in the WHO Essential Medicines list. MI4A is also responsible for the V3P data collection and reporting. Annually, over 140 countries report to WHO details of their vaccine purchases. Information is consolidated with JRF data, analyzed and shared through global, regional and country reports to further enhance understanding of global vaccine markets and inform country procurement choices. How can I find out more? Please visit www.who.int/immunization/MI4A or send inquiries to MI4A@who.int. © World Health Organization 2019. Some rights reserved. This work is available under the CC BY-NC- SA 3.0 IGO licence. Expected Outcomes of MI4A • Enhanced understanding of global vaccine markets • Identification of access risks and problem solving • Increased information to countries for improved procurement • More sustainable access to supply