In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 9.6 million children each year do not receive the most basic vaccines. One of the major reasons for low vaccination rates in developing nations, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is the lack of adequate numbers of skilled health care professionals. In 2003, the GAVI Alliance (GAVI) endorsed the planned activities of the Merck Vaccine Network – Africa (MVN-A), our philanthropic initiative to develop training centers in Africa to help increase the capacity of immunization programs to effectively deliver vaccines.

The content on this page was last modified on September 15, 2009.

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