Corporate Responsibility Report 2008

The role of vaccines

Vaccines play a major role in preventing and eliminating disease.

Immunisation is acknowledged by the World Health Organization (WHO) as being ‘among the most cost-effective of health investments’. Immunisation programmes make a substantial contribution to the aims of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals for economic growth.

It is estimated that at least three million deaths are prevented and 750,000 children are saved from disability due to vaccines every year¹. The number of deaths in Africa from measles fell 91 per cent between 2000 and 2006 due to better coverage of routine immunisation programmes and targeted campaigns to ensure that children had a second chance to be vaccinated².

Despite this progress vaccines are under-used. It is estimated that the lives of over two million children could be saved each year if existing vaccines were made accessible to all who need them. This will require sustained financing and the development of innovative vaccination programmes.

GSK is among the world’s top vaccine providers. We have over 30 vaccines approved for marketing and over 20 in our R&D pipeline, one-third of which target diseases particularly prevalent in the developing world. GSK vaccines are included in immunisation campaigns in 169 countries worldwide. Over 1,600 scientists work in vaccine research at GSK and we believe our vaccine pipeline is the largest in the industry. We remain committed to researching and developing vaccines for all three WHO infectious disease priorities, tuberculosis, HIV and malaria. Together with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, in 2008 we demonstrated in phase ll trials significant protection against malaria for infants and young children with GSK’s RTS,S candidate vaccine. Read more about the malaria vaccine.

In 2008 we supplied 1.1 billion vaccine doses. Of these, nearly 80 per cent were shipped for use in developing countries. Read about our tiered pricing system for vaccines.

Our vaccine portfolio addresses the medical needs of developing and developed countries. Our portfolio covers most of the leading causes of childhood mortality, as defined by the World Health Organization.

Our vaccine range includes products that protect against the following diseases:

Cervical cancer	Pneumococcal disease
Chickenpox	Polio
Diphtheria	Rotavirus
Hepatitis A and B	Rubella
Measles	Seasonal influenza
Meningitis	Tetanus
Mumps	Typhoid
Pandemic influenza	Whooping cough (Pertussis)