An estimated 300 million children will receive potentially lifesaving vaccines thanks to a U.S. $1.55 billion pledge from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In late January 2015, the Gates Foundation announced a five-year commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The UMHS Endeavour takes a brief look at press materials from the Gates Foundation and what this means for children in need of vaccines and future doctors at American and Caribbean medical schools.
Vaccines for Kids in World’s Poorest Nations
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation made the announcement on January 27, 2015 at the Gavi Replenishment Conference in Berlin, hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A press release from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said U.S $7.5 billion was made in pledges, “the largest-ever financial commitment to support childhood immunization,”.
This funding will help Gavi “reach an additional 300 million children with vaccines by 2020.” Funds for vaccines could save up to seven million lives by protecting children from such diseases as pneumonia, measles and severe diarrhea.
“Vaccines are one of the best investments in children’s health and well-being, which is why Gavi is the foundation’s single largest investment,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “The new funding allows Gavi to give children everywhere a healthy start at life.”
Gavi, launched in 2000, has reached half a billion children with immunizations and reportedly saved the lives of seven million kids. An estimated one in five children worldwide do not receive vaccines they need, the Gates Foundation said.
In addition, Bill Gates praised commitments for national immunization programs made in developing nations. “All of us have the responsibility to build on the great progress that’s been made to date and expand vaccination coverage and reach every child.”
“Thanks to our donors, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance will be able to support developing countries to protect the lives of hundreds of millions of children,” said Dagfinn Høybråten, chair of the Gavi Board. “We believe that vaccines should reach every child because this is one of the most effective ways of reducing preventable deaths in the poorest countries. The commitments made today will ensure Gavi can make a telling contribution towards the global community’s goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030.”
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledge includes “US $1.475 billion for core funding, and up to $75 million toward the renewal of the Gavi Matching Fund. The fund is an initiative designed to encourage private sector contributions to the delivery of life-saving vaccines to children in the world’s poorest countries,” press materials said.
The foundation has given more than U.S. $4 billion to Gavi since 2000.
(Top photo) Bill Gates speaking at a GAVI Allicance Pledging Event in 2011. Photo:DFID - UK Department for International Development/Wikimedia Commons
Vaccine Facts from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
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Scott is Director of Digital Content & Alumni Communications Liaison at UMHS and editor of the UMHS Endeavour blog. When he's not writing about UMHS students, faculty, events, public health, alumni and UMHS research, he writes and edits Broadway theater reviews for a website he publishes in New York City, StageZine.com.
