Interrupted BCG vaccination is a major threat to global child health

At a meeting of the WHO Child TB Subgroup in Cape Town, South Africa, in December, 2015, critical BCG vaccine shortages were reported in many countries. These shortages started in 2013 and continued into 2015. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is the main supplier of BCG vaccine to tuberculosis-endemic countries. During this period, two of its four suppliers, the Statens Serum Institute (SSI) in Denmark and the Serum Institute of India experienced technical difficulties that resulted in reduced production capacity. UNICEF reported shortages of 8 million doses in 2013, 23 million doses in 2014, and 17 million doses in 2015.¹ Delegates from many countries reported interruption of BCG vaccination programmes due to local stock-outs resulting from unreliable supply.