With New Funding this Vaccine Initiative Could Save More Lives

Giving Compass' Take:

• Jackie Marchildon and Gaëlle Langué discuss the Vaccine Alliance's plan to vaccinate over a billion children, and its need for more funding to expand reach.

• Why is funder support for vaccinations important to global health?

• Learn why Vaccine Alliance looks to increase immunization access.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance plans to vaccinate 1.1 billion children and save 22 million lives by the end of 2025 — but if the organization is going to succeed, it needs another $7.4 billion.

The health initiative is calling on donor countries, partners, and philanthropists to commit new funding for the period of 2021 to 2025.

New funding would allow Gavi and its partners to vaccinate 300 million children during that four-year period, saving an additional 7 to 8 million lives.
Gavi was created in 2000 at a time when global immunization efforts were dwindling and millions of children in low-income countries were unable to access basic vaccines. It is an international organization that works as a partnership between public and private sectors.

Since its launch, Gavi has vaccinated 760 million children and saved more than 13 million lives.

But despite great progress, people in marginalized communities continue to lack access to vital vaccines and 1.5 million people die every year from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Gavi’s next replenishment conference will take place in London in June 2020.

Between 2021 and 2015, Gavi plans to make vaccines against as many as 18 diseases available — up from just six in 2000. The organization also plans to invest at least $1.1 billion in grants that would help strengthen health systems.