Devex: Opinion: 10 signs we’re winning the fight against pneumococcal disease
Maria Deloria Knoll, senior scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and associate director of science for the International Vaccine Access Center

“…While pneumonia remains the leading cause of death in children under 5, mortality is dropping every year as more children get access to [pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV)]. We’ve achieved global access on a scale no one predicted. Here’s 10 signs of that progress: 1. Over 140 countries have introduced PCV, including 60 low-income countries. … 2. India, which suffered the world’s highest toll of pneumococcal disease, began a phased introduction in 2017. … 3. Policymakers are better informed on the economic burden of pneumonia. … 4. An innovative financing mechanism will provide nearly 1.5 billion doses of PCV to infants in [Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance] countries by 2024. … 5. The price of vaccines continues to fall. … 6. Newest formulations of PCV are better suited for low-resource settings. … 7. Middle-income countries are funding their own PCV programs. … 8. Evidence of strong impact mounts across Africa. … 9. Levels of disease have dropped even for people who weren’t vaccinated. … 10. PCV will prevent over half a million child deaths in low-income countries by 2020…” (5/1).