At the World Health Assembly in Geneva, the GAVI Alliance presented special awards to 13 developing country governments in recognition of their outstanding commitment to vaccine co-financing. Above: Cameroun Minister of Health (left); GAVI Alliance CEO Julian Lob-Levyt (centre); Burundi Minister of Health (right). ©:GAVI Alliance: Ariane Leroy.
GAVI ALLIANCE AWARDS GO TO 13 DEVELOPING COUNTRIES FOR OUTSTANDING VACCINE CO-FINANCING, 27 COUNTRIES CONTRIBUTE IN ALL: 23/05/2009 (MaximsNews Network)
UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / - 23 May 2009 -- Geneva -- At the World Health Assembly in Geneva this week the GAVI Alliance presented special awards to 13 developing country governments in recognition of their outstanding commitment to vaccine co-financing -- Benin, Bolivia, Burundi, Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Solomon Islands, Tanzania, Yemen, and Zambia; these are among the 27 countries now contributing to vaccine costs through the GAVI Alliance, representing a big increase since 2007 when only six nations contributed to the global partnership.
"We are pleased and proud to recognise these countries for their extraordinary commitment to immunisation," said Dr Julian Lob-Levyt, GAVI Alliance CEO. "They have demonstrated an impressive level of ownership which shows that GAVI’s unique co-financing scheme is proving to be a successful model for development aid. Already a third of all GAVI’s recipient countries co-finance now and we expect this number to continue to increase," he said. The GAVI Alliance, a partnership that includes WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank and funded by donor countries and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has achieved remarkable success in their efforts to finance the purchase of vaccines against common but life-threatening diseases, such as rotavirus, Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b, tetanus and pertussis.
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At the World Health Assembly in Geneva, the GAVI Alliance presented special awards to 13 developing country governments in recognition of their outstanding commitment to vaccine co-financing. ©:GAVI Alliance/2009 |
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"Our government is very committed to child survival and particularly wants to ensure that the immunisation programme is properly funded, maintained and sustained," said Dr Victor Mukonka, the Director of Public Health and Research at the Ministry of Health in Zambia, a country recognized this year and last for its contributions to vaccine financing. "These days we can pay for over 25 percent of the costs of the vaccines we receive. We are hoping to eventually fully fund the immunisation of our children," he explained. "We have worked extremely hard to convince the cabinet to invest in children and to prevent diseases rather than wait until the children are sick. In Zambia, everybody values vaccination as a cost-effective intervention”. |
Countries Receiving Awards for Vaccine Co-Financing:
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Even with the current world financial downturn, more of the world’s poorest countries are contributing co-payments (more than US $17 million in 2008) towards the cost of life-saving vaccines through the GAVI Alliance, a public-private partnership that has achieved remarkable success by preventing more than 3.4 million future deaths by the end of 2008 and protecting a cumulative 213 million children with new and underused vaccines.
The GAVI Alliance’s co-financing policy aims to strengthen country ownership and to help countries work towards financial sustainability for their immunisation programmes.
Eventually all countries will be required to co-finance GAVI-supported vaccines according to their ability to pay and the number of different vaccines deployed.
World Health Organization projections show that GAVI Alliance support has prevented more than 3.4 million future deaths by the end of 2008; protected a cumulative 50.9 million children with basic vaccines against DTP3 (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis); and protected a cumulative 213 million children with new and underused vaccines.
GAVI Alliance has also been recognised for developing innovative financing mechanisms like the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) and the Advance Market Commitments. For more information, please visit: www.gavialliance.org
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For more information, please contact: Dan Thomas, GAVI Alliance, dthomas@gavialliance.org Kirstin Reisdorf, GAVI Alliance, kreisdorf@gavialliance.org
Photo and video requests: Sandra Scolari,sscolari@gavialliance.org
Labels: GAVI Alliance, Dr. Richard Sezibera, Rwanda’s Minister of Health, UNICEF, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, World Health Organization, WHO, U.N., Vaccine Co-Financing, Benin, Bolivia, Burundi, Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Solomon Islands, Tanzania, Yemen, Zambia, "Immunize Every Child" campaign, Julian Lob-Levyt, millennium development goal (MDG), Pneumococcal disease, Advance Market Commitment (AMC), GAVI’s Pneumococcal Accelerated Development and Introduction Plan (PneumoADIP), MaximsNews.tv, Video MaximsNews YouTube, VIDEO, MaximsNews.TV, United Nations, MaximsNews Network,
