The UK, France, Italy, Spain, and Sweden have committed US$4 billion to support and scale up the work of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) over the next decade. The innovative financing via the International Finance Facility for Immunization (IFFIm) will enable GAVI to bring lifesaving vaccines to millions of the world’s poorest children.
Blog excerpt:
"There is a proven effective way to save the lives of children, even in very poor countries. The international program of childhood vaccination already saves about 3 millions lives a year. It has been one of the most important contributions to improving health across the world in the 20th Century. Yet more than 4 million lives a year are still lost to diseases for which vaccines are either available, or will be in the next few years. (See the table here.) Children in poor countries die because they are not getting immunized with vaccines that we in rich countries take for granted."
Read the complete posting on CGD's Vaccines for Development blog.