Commission for Africa and Vaccine Development

The Commission for Africa issued its final report last week providing a comprehensive set of recommendations for improving the health and welfare of Africa. The Commission, founded by Tony Blair and comprising seventeen Commissioners, addresses the development of vaccines and medicines, including the need for novel financing mechanisms. The report includes support for advance market commitments:

"Recommendation: Donors should develop incentives for research and development in health that meet Africa's needs. They must set up advance purchase agreements for medicines." (Page 188.)

The Gates Foundation emphasized this recommendation in their trailing press release, saying:

"Finally, the Commission's call for sustained and predictable resource flows and for donors to develop new incentives for health-related research that will benefit Africa is particularly significant."