HPV is the human papillomavirus, which can lead to cervical cancer. The disease kills two hundred thousand women a year, mostly in developing countries. The Merck company has agreed to offer GAVI the HPV vaccine at five dollars a dose. This is two-thirds less than the current price.

Also, Mr. Rowland said two India-based companies, Serum Institute and Panacea Biotec, will reduce prices on vaccines against five diseases. These are diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza type b.

Other companies including GlaxoSmithKline and Merck will lower prices for rotavirus vaccines. That virus causes diarrhea that kills about half a million children a year.

JEFFREY ROWLAND: "Almost all children in the world get rotavirus. The thing is that in the United States or in Europe children usually have good access to medical care -- so rehydration, antibiotics, hospitalization. Children in poor countries, on the other hand, usually do not. So, by the time a mother brings her child to a clinic after having diarrhea, that child is near death. And oftentimes the antibiotics and the services are not available to save the child’s life."

A rotavirus vaccine in the United States can cost as much as fifty dollars. Under the new plan, this same vaccine could cost about two and a half dollars in a developing country.

The GAVI Alliance says almost two million children a year die from diseases that vaccines can prevent.