USC Marshall Global BioBusiness Initiative Publishes Book on Bill Gates and the Effort to Immunize the World's Poorest Children

The international system for the development and distribution of life saving vaccines for children in the poorest countries has never functioned adequately.

While the heaviest burden of infectious disease is found in the South, it is the market in the North that determines which diseases are targeted for vaccine development. Traditionally, there has been a fifteen- to twenty-year delay between the development of vaccines and their availability at prices low enough that they can be purchased for the children of emerging nations. Millions of young people die during that unconscionably long period.

This analysis deals with the bold attempt by the Bill and Melinda Gates Children’s Vaccine Program (CVP), and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) it helped to form, to achieve equity between the North and the South in the timeliness of their access to affordable new vaccines.

This book has unusual saliency for those concerned with what works and what doesn’t in improving the health of the poorest people in the world. It is also an excellent in-depth case study with clear business, strategic, innovation, operations management, public-private partnering, and project implementation implications.



Bill Muraskin is a unique blend of investigative reporter and historian. With support from the Rockefeller Foundation he produced brilliant books on the genesis and evolution of two important international health programs – the globalization of the hepatitis B vaccine and the birth and death of WHO’s Children’s Vaccine Initiative. Here he brings his insider’s insight to cover the story behind an early project of the new major player in global health – the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
- Dr. Scott B. Halstead, formerly Acting Director, Health Sciences, The Rockefeller Foundation -


Bill Muraskin has captured the high drama and political intrigue intrinsic to the efforts by Bill Gates and his Foundation to shake up the world of international public health in the fight against infectious diseases and poverty in children. With mastery and characteristic candor, he has documented the successes and failures of this cutting edge initiative and distilled many lessons for those who have the courage to listen and learn from history.
- Dr. Gurinder Shahi, USC Marshall Global BioBusiness Initiative -


It is a brave man who undertakes a study of the complex and controversial history behind the global effort to immunise all children of the world. Bill Muraskin has provided an invaluable contribution with his usual
thoroughness and insightful commentary.
- Dr. Peter Poore, Health Consultant (formerly with Save the Children, UK) -