Partnership
RVP’s work provides an important opportunity to bring partners together to catalyze rotavirus vaccine availability for the developing world. These collaborations reflect the collective conviction of all to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of children.
In partnership with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we helped establish and enhance rotavirus surveillance in several countries.
Working with the World Health Organization, we are building the evidence base on rotavirus disease burden and the potential impact of vaccines, while providing decisionmaking support to countries.
Support from the GAVI Alliance has fueled RVP activities since its establishment in 2003. Our application of this support toward surveillance, country interactions, cost-effectiveness evaluation, and clinical research informed GAVI’s decision to support rotavirus vaccine introduction in the developing world.
Collaboration with National Ministries of Health has provided crucial country-level perspective toward assessing local needs and evaluating options for controlling rotavirus and diarrheal disease. Our experiences and relationships at the country level will be important toward not only accelerating access to rotavirus vaccines but also can inform uptake of other new vaccines and health interventions as they become available.
Our partnerships with in-country clinical research sites, particularly in Africa and Asia, are helping to determine the safety and efficacy of rotavirus vaccines while building local research capacity and laying a foundation for future vaccine introduction planning.
We are learning from and applying our experience to the activities of several child survival stakeholders to work together in reducing the burden of rotavirus and diarrheal disease. These organizations not only represent the child immunization community, but also programs focused on water and sanitation, nutrition, and poverty reduction.
Relationships with vaccine manufacturers have allowed for the study of available vaccines and their feasibility in impoverished settings of the developing world. We are also helping the manufacturers package their products so that they are appropriate for and acceptable to developing country health systems.
Top photo by Richard Lord.