A vaccine bank could reduce disease panic

Dr Baty Dungu believes South Africa should take lessons from countries that have been using stockpiles for years to ensure adequate vaccine supplies before outbreaks occur.

- Dr Baty Dungu

African horse sickness, Rift Valley fever, and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) are just some of the animal diseases that have caused panic among veterinarians and farmers this year. One question is constantly asked: would vaccines be available if we experienced an outbreak?

This is where a vaccine bank (also called a vaccine stockpile or strategic vaccine reserve) can play an important role, as it is potentially the single most powerful tool against disease control for both government and the private sector.

It's important to note that vaccine banks focus on proven vaccines, and not those that still need to prove their worth. In other words, this is not about new developments, but rather about cherishing and maintaining the old.

While these banks have been used extensively elsewhere in the world for decades, we haven't seen them established in Southern Africa or the rest of the continent.

For decades, veterinary vaccine banks have formed an important part of a contingency plan at both local and regional levels, constituting an important tool in managing infectious diseases' emergence, control, and response leading to recovery.

Years ago, vaccine banks were established as part of companies' and countries' emergency responses to infectious or zoonotic disease outbreaks or introduction into new areas.

While the historic role of vaccine banks was as part of a response to animal disease outbreaks or as a countermeasure to new diseases, the extended role of these banks is to control critically important diseases identified by veterinary authorities as requiring a well-planned control programme through vaccination.

VARIOUS TYPES OF VACCINE BANKS