London, 29 April – The UK Government today confirmed that it will remain the largest supporter of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. 

In her comments to the House of Commons, Secretary of State for International Development, Rt. Hon. Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, announced a funding pledge to protect up to 75 million children in the world’s poorest countries against diseases like measles, polio and typhoid, and is a huge contribution to building the health systems needed to protect people for the future and overcome global poverty. The pledge is equivalent to £330 million per year over the next five years to Gavi. You can read the Government’s announcement here.

The UK’s contribution to Gavi will be crucial for supporting the health systems in the world’s poorest countries during the fight against COVID-19. Gavi’s role in strengthening health systems will also be critical for developing the necessary resilience to mitigate the impact of future pandemics and global emergencies. 

RESULTS UK  Executive Director Aaron Oxley, said:

“We are delighted to welcome the UK’s commitment to Gavi. As well as immunising an additional 75 million children, it will play a crucial role in strengthening health systems in some of the world’s poorest countries. COVID-19 has made it clearer than ever that we need a strong global health infrastructure to meet global health challenges faced by people everywhere.”

This announcement is particularly welcome in the run-up to the Global Vaccines Summit, being hosted by the UK on 4 June, in which donors from around the world will make renewed financial commitments to Gavi. We encourage other donors to make ambitious pledges to ensure a fully-funded Gavi. 

Notes to Editors

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has immunised 760 million children since its inception in 2000. Gavi works in the world’s poorest countries with a mandate of enabling children to receive routine and life saving vaccines. Gavi facilitates the delivery of vaccines through development partners whilst supporting countries to introduce new vaccines. Gavi also works with pharmaceutical companies to enable healthy and affordable markets for life saving vaccines.  

At this year’s Global Vaccines Summit 2020, Gavi is seeking to raise $7.4 billion to fund their work for the period 2021-2025. During this period Gavi will aim to immunise an additional 300 million children, saving up to 8 million lives whilst working to strengthen countries health systems and introduce new vaccines.  The UK contribution is a huge step towards achieving this target. 

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RESULTS UK is a movement of passionate, committed, everyday people who together use their voices to influence political decisions that will bring an end to poverty. For more information please visit www.results.org.uk