|
 GAVI said the additional investments, which it hopes
to get mainly from global health philanthropists and the governments
of developed nations, could double the total number of lives saved
through GAVI-supported vaccines to an estimated 12 million.
"We are faced with an historic opportunity to support countries to
build sustainable immunization programs that will protect entire
generations of children," the group's chairman, Dagfinn Hoybraten,
said in a statement.
"The investments we all make now can ensure the equivalent of two
children every second will be reached with GAVI-supported vaccines
for five years and secure the future health and economic prosperity
of all our children in years to come."
GAVI, which is backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the
World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Bank, UNICEF, donor
governments and others, funds immunization programs for poor nations
that cannot afford to buy vaccines at rich-world prices.
The group targets common but deadly diseases such as pneumonia,
diarrhoea and cervical cancer and says it has already saved around 6
million lives since its launch in 2000.
Seth Berkley, GAVI's chief executive, told Reuters that if the
alliance were to achieve its target of an extra $7.5 billion, this
would be added to $2 billion already in hand for the 2016 to 2020
period.
This is around 15 percent more than GAVI has for the current
five-year period, he said, but an acceleration is necessary because
there are still around 1.5 million children who die each year of
vaccine-preventable diseases.
[to top of second column] |
Berkley said the economic benefits of fully funded, sustainable
vaccine programs in poorer countries would result in between $80 and
$100 billion in gains, partly by cutting the costs of treating
illness, and increasing population productivity by keeping people
alive and well into adulthood.
GAVI uses its private and government donors' backing to negotiate
with pharmaceutical firms such as GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and Pfizer
to bring down vaccine prices for the poor. It then works with
partners to bulk-buy and deliver them to countries whose populations
need them most.
The group says its influence on the vaccines market so far has led
to a 37 percent decrease in the cost for a GAVI-eligible country to
vaccinate a child with pentavalent, pneumococcal and rotavirus
vaccines since 2010.
(Editing by Alison Williams)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
