From the Office of Senator Kerry

Wednesday, March 1, 2000

WASHINGTON, DC -- Senator John F. Kerry and Senator Bill Frist announced today a proposal to spur research and development of vaccines against HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. The nine-point plan, the Vaccines for the New Millennium Act, unifies the public health community, advocates and the private sector in the fight against the world's deadliest infectious diseases. The plan provides tax incentives for vaccine R&D, creates market mechanisms for the purchase and distribution of vaccines in developing countries, authorizes funding for multilateral vaccine and immunization efforts, and establishes a commission to coordinate public-private partnerships for vaccine development.

"Last year tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria killed 5.2 million people. This global health crisis must be addressed," said Kerry. "This plan instills incentives in order to translate the private sector's capacity for research and development into affordable and effective vaccines. For sub-Saharan Africa, successful development of vaccines is a matter of survival."

"With AIDS taking the lives of 2,500 Africans each week, it is quickly becoming the single greatest policy challenge for the United States in Africa and Africans themselves. Of the 1.1 million in the world dead from malaria last year, 700,000 were African children," said Frist. "We must take an aggressive stance to combat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. This legislation improves research efforts, supports private sector initiatives and encourages the development of effective vaccines to rescue the countries bearing the greatest burden from disease."

The Kerry-Frist plan provides creative financing mechanisms to unleash the energy of the private sector, which offers the best hope for new vaccine breakthroughs. The bill establishes an investment credit for smaller biotechnology companies which engage in lifesaving vaccine research. In addition, the bill builds on President's Clinton call for a vaccine purchasing tax credit which would double the purchasing power of non-profit organizations which buy and distribute new vaccines against any disease which kills more than one million people a year.

The plan also includes a trust fund for the purchase of new vaccines, thereby creating a market for developing countries which desperately need vaccines. It calls on the President to negotiate with other countries and multilateral banks to establish an international fund to finance the purchase of new vaccines. It also authorizes U.S. contributions to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations as well as the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi is sponsoring similar legislation in the House of Representatives. Senator Patty Murray is also co-sponsoring the bill in the Senate.