UN children's and refugee agencies sign deal to cut costs of vaccines in Pakistan
23 June 2008 - The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the world body's refugee agency have signed an agreement that will
lead to significant savings in the purchase of vaccines for Afghans and locals living in and around Pakistan's refugee
settlements.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed in Islamabad at the weekend, UNICEF will obtain vaccines on behalf of the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) based on the current UNICEF supply catalogue and price list or other estimates
provided by UNICEF - which are lower than what the other agency pays.
Guenet Guebre-Christos, UNHCR's representative in Pakistan, said the deal was "a good example of the UN delivering as
one. The economies of scale will allow us to be more cost-efficient when procuring vaccines. This in turn will help us
to maximize services to the refugees."
UNHCR spends about $200,000 every year on vaccines for hundreds of thousands of refugee children and pregnant women
living in refugee villages and for their host communities. The vaccines are designed to prevent diseases such as polio,
measles, tuberculosis, diphtheria, hepatitis B and tetanus.
ENDS