Medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has welcomed a move by international drug manufacturer Pfizer to lower the price of its pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) for children caught in humanitarian emergencies.

Pfizer's decision comes after another company GSK announced it would lower the price of this drug to humanitarian organizations at the urging of aid organization MSF.

“It’s good to see that Pfizer is now finally reducing the price of its life-saving vaccine for children in emergencies,” said Dr Joanne Liu, MSF’s international president. “With Pfizer and GSK’s price reductions, humanitarian organizations will be better able to protect children against this deadly disease.”

Pneumonia is the leading cause of child mortality worldwide, killing nearly one million children every year. Crisis-affected children, such as those caught up in conflict or in humanitarian emergencies, are particularly susceptible to pneumonia. MSF medical teams often see the deadly effects of pneumonia – a vaccine-preventable disease – in the vulnerable children treated in our health facilities.

In a press release MSF said, “The price reductions are a significant step forward in protecting vulnerable children who are reached by humanitarian organizations like MSF.”

MSF is one of the main healthcare providers in South Sudan.