How to save six million lives by 2020

Gary Finnegan

Gary Finnegan

May 21st, 2014

Gary Finnegan
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‘Giving the world’s poorest people access to vaccines can prevention millions of deaths, according to the GAVI Alliance – a public-private partnership funded by governments, philanthropists and companies.

The Alliance already runs immunisation programmes in developing countries but, at a high-profile fundraising conference in Brussels this week (May 20), it rolled out an ambitious plan to reach an additional 300 million children between 2016 and 2020.

This would have the potential to save an extra six million lives. 6,000,000 children.’

The Alliance already runs immunisation programmes in developing countries but, at a high-profile fundraising conference in Brussels this week (May 20), it rolled out an ambitious plan to reach

This was echoed by Dagfinn Høybråten, Chair of the GAVI Alliance who said investing now in global immunisation programmes would have long-term positive consequences.

“We are faced with an historic opportunity to support countries to build sustainable immunisation programmes that will protect entire generations of children,” he said.

President Mulatu Teshome of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia said children in Africa need this support: “I urge all parties to come together to ensure that this important work can continue so that children in countries like Ethiopia will have the best possible chance to grow into healthy, productive adults.” 

The EU pledged its long-term commitment to GAVI and offered an additional €175 million for the period 2014-2020 – on top of donations from European countries like Spain, Sweden and the UK.

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