GAVI donors pledge €3 billion for vaccines

Gary Finnegan

Gary Finnegan

June 17th, 2011

Gary Finnegan
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‘More than 250 million children will be immunised against life-threatening diseases after public and private donors pledged billions to help the world’s poorest children.’

GaviThe first pledging conference held by the GAVI Alliance was hailed as a remarkable success after governments, companies and philanthropists joined together to offer €3 billion to fund vaccination programmes – greatly exceeding GAVI’s €2.56 target.

The organisation said the additional funds will mean it can get vaccines to more children faster than planned, and will also be able to accelerate the introduction of new vaccines.

Some of the funds are dependent on GAVI raising additional funds from new donors in the future but promises to make a total of €5.26 billion available between 2011 and 2015.

The London event brought together prime ministers, vaccine industry CEOs, UN agencies, charities, and philanthropists such as Bill Gates, and attracted widespread international media attention.

“For the first time in history, children in developing countries will receive the same vaccines against diarrhoea and pneumonia as children in rich countries,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Together we must do more to ensure that all children – no matter where they live – have equal access to life-saving vaccines.”

Ahead of the conference, on vaccines and the European Commission announced additional support for GAVI which takes its spending on immunisation programmes to €230 million between 2011 and 2013.

“Today was a vote a confidence for GAVI. But it was also a challenge to us: to keep delivering on our mission and to do even more. Nearly two million children die from vaccine-preventable diseases every year. The day will come when malaria and other killer diseases can be beaten with a simple shot in the arm. We must prepare for that day. Working with partners, GAVI will need to continue to raise the necessary resources to tackle all vaccine-preventable diseases,” said GAVI Alliance Board Chair Dagfinn Høybråten.

Related:

External links:

Huffington Post: , by Bill Gates

Financial Times:

Daily Telegraph: Vaccines and Foreign Aid – A Shot in the Arm

Independent: World Digs Deep to Boost Fight Against Disease

The Guardian: Vaccine Funding: Rich Countries, Led by Britain, to Give Additional £2.6bn

People’s Daily (China): Donors Commit $4.3 Billion Funding to Provide Vaccines for Children

New York Times: $4.3 Billion Pledged at Vaccine Fund-Raiser

Reuters: Donors pledge $4.3 Billion for Vaccines for Poor