# 2074
The WHO's (World Health Organization's) idea of creating a stockpile of bird flu vaccine for poorer nations got a shot in the arm today when Sanofi-Aventis pledged to donate 60 million doses of its H5N1 vaccine over the next 3 years.
Sanofi joins GSK (GlaxoSmithKline), which made a similar pledge last year.
This from Reuters.
Sanofi gives 60 mln H5N1 flu vaccine shots to WHO
Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:24am EDT
LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is to donate 60 million doses of its H5N1 bird flu vaccine to the World Health Organisation, the French drugmaker said on Monday.
The donation over the next three years will help the U.N. health body build a global vaccine stockpile that could be used in poor countries in the event of an outbreak of a human flu pandemic, which many experts fear may be triggered by bird flu.
The United States and some countries have already placed orders for national vaccine stockpiles but there have been concerns that the world's poor could be left without protection.
As a result, the WHO has decided to set up a vaccine stockpile to distribute shots at short notice to poor countries.
