Vaccines are one of the greatest medical successes of the last 100 years. Three quarters of the 130 million babies born every year are now immunized against diseases which in the past could well have killed them. Vaccines mean we live in a much healthier world, where fewer children die or become economic burdens on their families. For every dollar spent on vaccines, it’s estimated $27 dollars is saved in treatment. Vaccine Hunters is a ground-breaking, four-part series, made for the BBC which examines the challenges, the developments and the science of modern vaccines. The series goes round the world to investigate what is happening in the most up-to-date labs in the world to find out what vaccines are being developed, particularly the holy grail – immunizing for malaria and HIV. One of the next major developments scientists are working on is to produce vaccines that could treat as well as prevent disease. New vaccines are highly expensive to produce. So who is going to pay for the next generation of life savers, including the cost of getting vaccines from the lab to the field? Vaccines are also big money. One prediction is that the value of the global vaccine market will go from being worth over £5 billion today, to around £20 billion in ten years. A staggering increase! Thanks to immunization diseases like tetanus, polio and TB, which were feared in the past, are fading from memory. Many millions of people have been saved by vaccine programmes. But there are millions more, many living in the most remote areas, who would benefit. It’s estimated 8-million people a year die from diseases simply because they don’t have access to the vaccine. Vaccine Hunters is an informed and comprehensive look at the world of vaccines today.

These Films can be Bought Individually or as a Series.