Morning Briefing

In a report (.pdf) released on Tuesday, the non-governmental organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, said a new $10 billion global vaccination plan "fails to address the 20 percent of babies -- some 19 million infants -- who never receive basic, life-saving shots," and that, "[r]ather than pushing for novel vaccines, the plan should focus more concretely on strategies to get existing vaccines to children," Nature's "News Blog" reports (Maxmen, 5/15). The "'Global Vaccine Action Plan' has been designed to implement the 'Decade of Vaccines' project and will be considered by health ministers gathering next week in Geneva for the 65th World Health Assembly," according to an MSF press release, which adds, "MSF welcomed the increased emphasis on vaccines stimulated by the 'Decade of Vaccines' but expressed concern that some key challenges are being glossed over" (5/15).