Report of the WHO Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1) Vaccine Deployment Initiative

Overview

As part of its efforts to combat seasonal and pandemic influenza outbreaks, the World Health Organization (WHO) works to ensure equitable access to vaccines and other medicines, especially in resource-poor settings. Specific WHO activities range from deploying vaccines and antivirals to addressing the systemic problems that limit their availability in many countries. For access to be considered truly equitable, vaccines and other medicines must be available to countries when they are most needed.

In April 2009, cases of a virulent influenza were detected in Mexico and the United States of America. After determining that these cases were related, WHO issued a health advisory. In June, the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic was declared.

Under the mandate of the International Health Regulations (IHR; 2005) the Director-General of WHO convened a technical Emergency Committee to assess the situation and to advise on the most appropriate actions to take. As part of this, and to ensure that developing countries were able to protect the health of their populations, WHO began to mobilize and coordinate the global donation of resources needed to deploy life-saving pandemic H1N1 vaccines and ancillary products to some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.