Democracy Arsenal: Ten Things To Do About Africa

Over at Democracy Arsenal, Suzanne Nossel looks at ten things that President Bush could do if he is serious about Africa.Second in her list is:

2. Launch a major push on vaccine availability. One of the less noticed but potentially pathbreaking outcomes of pre-G8 summit finance minister meetings was an agreement to expedite efforts to pre-purchase massive quantities of newly developed vaccines for distribution in African countries. The administration historically has been loath to intervene in the pharmaceutical industry's practices for making treatments and vaccines cheaply available in poor countries. U.S. leadership will be critical to this plan, and Bush should provide it. (Check out this blog [Vaccines for Development] for more details on how the plan will motivate faster vaccine development.)