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World leaders have
pledged an additional
US$ 8.8 billion for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance,
far exceeding the target of US$ 7.4 billion.
The funding will help immunise 300 million more children in
the world’s poorest countries against diseases like measles,
polio and diphtheria by the end of 2025. It will also
support health systems to withstand the impact of
coronavirus and maintain the infrastructure necessary to
roll out a future COVID-19 vaccine on a global scale.
The pledges were made at the
Global
Vaccine Summit 2020,
hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Representatives
from 52 countries, including 35 Heads of State, joined
leaders from global health organisations, the private
sector, vaccine manufacturers and civil society
organisations to support the Vaccine Alliance’s work
protecting almost half the world’s children against deadly,
preventable infectious diseases.
Gavi, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF have
warned that 80 million children under the age of one are at
risk of disease due to disruptions to vital immunisation
programmes because of COVID-19.
The UK remains the Vaccine Alliance’s largest donor,
pledging the equivalent of £330 million per year over the
next five years. Other top donors include the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, Norway, Germany and the United States.
Eight countries made their first ever pledge to Gavi,
including Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Finland, Greece,
New Zealand, Portugal and Uganda.
As well as supporting the routine vaccination of hundreds of
millions of children in lower-income countries from
infectious diseases, the new support will also be used to
help lower-income countries meet the challenge of the
coronavirus pandemic by strengthening health systems and
vaccine distribution.
“Britain has been honoured to host this summit today,” said
Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister. “You can count on our full
contribution as together we rise to fulfil the greatest
shared endeavour of our lifetime - the triumph of humanity
over disease, now and for the generations that follow. As we
make the choice today to unite and forge a path of global
co-operation, let us also renew our collective resolve to
find the vaccine that can defeat coronavirus.”
“To beat the COVID-19 pandemic, the world needs more than
breakthrough science. It needs breakthrough generosity. And
that’s what we’re seeing today as leaders across the public
and private sectors are stepping up to support Gavi –
especially Prime Minister Johnson,” said Bill Gates,
co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “When
COVID-19 vaccines are ready, this funding and global
coordination will ensure that people all over the world will
be able to access them.”
Over the next five years, we will also see the largest
investment in immunisation ever made by lower-income
countries.
Gavi-supported countries will contribute US$ 3.6 billion
towards the cost of buying vaccines – more than double the
amount for the 2016-2020 period and more than 40% of the
total estimated cost of supplying vaccines to these
countries. They are also expected to invest around US$ 6
billion in immunisation service delivery costs over the same
period. The dire economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
may, however,
disrupt these estimates.
Gavi’s market-shaping efforts to make life-saving vaccines
more affordable have seen a 21% price reduction for fully
immunising a child with pentavalent, pneumococcal and
rotavirus vaccines
– from $20.01 in 2015 to $15.90 in 2018.
“COVID-19 is a brutal reminder of why we must prioritise
health,” said Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, President of
Burkina Faso. “But if we fail to maintain the achievements
we have made in vaccination, we risk the resurgence of
deadly diseases like measles, yellow fever and polio. By
working together to ensure the survival and prosperity of
the people of Burkina Faso, of Africa and of the world, we
will together write the most magnificent pages in our common
history.”
Included in the total figure is US$ 0.9 billion in long-term
pledges made to the innovative International
Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), which will be
used when needed to raise immediate funds on the capital
markets.
“As the world battles against coronavirus, today’s UK-hosted
Global Vaccine Summit has been a superb example of what we
can achieve when we all take action together,” said
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, UK International Development
Secretary. “We know vaccines work, and I’m incredibly proud
that we’ve exceeded Gavi’s pledging target to help protect
300 million more children from deadly illnesses through
routine immunisation. This will help stop the spread of
infection around the world, now, and in the future.”
The world’s biggest vaccine manufacturers also committed to
continue supplying the billions of doses needed to continue
increasing vaccine coverage across Africa and Asia. The
Vaccine Alliance is one of the world’s largest and most
successful public-private partnerships, and the wider
private sector continued to show support for its mission
with the announcement
of more than US$ 70 million of new pledges and
partnerships, bringing new technology, networks and
expertise to help solve some of global health’s most
intractable problems.
“On behalf of the countless vaccinators, supply chain
workers, programme managers and the many, many others that
work tirelessly every day to ensure children in vulnerable
countries continue to receive lifesaving vaccines – thank
you,” said Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Gavi Board Chair. “We
have made incredible progress over the past two decades
improving vaccine coverage and reducing child mortality
across Africa and Asia. This funding will give countries new
hope that, despite the devastating impact of COVID-19, this
progress can be sustained and built on. The Alliance will
now get to work making this happen.”
The Global Vaccine Summit also saw the launch of the Advance
Market Commitment for COVID-19 Vaccines (Covax AMC), a
new innovative financing instrument to provide access to
COVID-19 vaccines for low- and middle-income countries. This
is the first building block towards a global mechanism to
ensure equitable access to future COVID-19 vaccines. US$ 567
million was raised today in initial seed money for the AMC
from 12 donors.
“As we celebrate a historic day we must also turn towards
our next challenge: ensuring universal access to COVID-19
vaccines,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine
Alliance. “One thing that has been made all too clear over
the past few months is that this disease does not respect
borders, which is why this global problem requires a global
solution. After today’s success, we now need support to help
ensure the most vulnerable people in low- and middle-income
countries – as well as those in high- and upper
middle-income countries – have access to COVID-19 vaccines.”
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