Health officials check the vaccine vials in one of India’s vaccine cold storage terminals in Keran in northern Kashmir.

a UK pledge to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

Each year, 5 million children die before their fifth birthday from preventable diseases. Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective interventions to save lives and prevent illness, yet in 2023, 14.5 million children did not receive a single dose. The UK has long been the leading supporter of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a global partnership to improve access to vaccines for children around the world, that has averted nearly 19 million deaths. In March, countries attending a replenishment conference in Brussels will pledge funds for Gavi’s work for the next 5 years. The UK must be among them.

what

vaccination is one of the best ways to reduce child deaths, yet millions of children around the world still don’t receive a single dose

who

the UK Government must support the efforts of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which helps reach over half the world’s children with vaccines

how

ask the Development Minister to commit to a 10% increase in funding at a Gavi pledging conference in March

why do we need to fund global vaccinations now?

Each year, 5 million children die before their fifth birthday from preventable causes, often from vaccine-preventable diseases such as pneumonia, rotavirus, and measles. In 2023, 14.5 million children did not receive a single vaccine dose, more than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a global partnership that improves access to vaccines for children across the world. Since 2000, Gavi has helped vaccinate more than 1 billion children and prevented nearly 19 million child deaths. Gavi is now seeking funding for its vital work for the period 2026-30, with a plan to save over 8 million lives. International donors including the UK must step up to the plate at a pledging conference on 19-20 March this year.

How does Gavi work?

For many years, global immunisation efforts were hampered by the high cost of new vaccines that were beyond the reach of many lower-income countries. Gavi was created in 2000 to encourage vaccine manufacturers to lower vaccine prices for the poorest countries in return for long-term, high-volume and predictable demand.

During its next strategic period, from 2026–2030, Gavi plans to immunise at least 500 million more children, potentially preventing a further 8–9 million deaths. To achieve this, Gavi hopes to raise at least US $9 billion from donor governments, private organisations and individuals through a process called replenishment, culminating in a conference to be held in Brussels on 19-20 March 2025.

Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective ways to save lives and prevent illness, each $1 invested saving $54 of costs to society, helping to strengthen health systems, and bringing the world closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, Goal 3 (Health for all).

take action!

If you took our campaign action to contact your MP about the importance of vaccinations last autumn, thank you! Now, with just a few weeks to go before a pledging conference for Gavi in Brussels on 19-20 March, we need to build on that parliamentary pressure and urge the Government to make a pledge at the conference, encouraging other countries to follow suit.
Please write to the Development Secretary Anneliese Dodds to make a financial commitment to Gavi’s global vaccinations work. Please explain to her that the UK’s financial investments over more than 20 years are at risk if Gavi’s work is not supported with new funding, and that children’s lives are at stake. An increase of 10% on the UK’s previous investments is now needed to improve global immunisation coverage.
Address for your letter: Rt. Hon. Anneliese Dodds MP, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH. Email: [email protected]
We believe a decision on funding is likely to be made in February, so please write your letter as soon as possible!

how Results campaigners have supported Gavi’s global vaccination programmes

Results supports Gavi’s work by advocating for it to receive sufficient resources from donors such as the UK Government, and by sharing policy recommendations to improve how Gavi operates.

In 2015, Results campaigners persuaded the UK Government to invest £1 billion in Gavi for the period 2016-20. Then, in 2020, we once again helped support Gavi’s vaccination programmes by persuading the Government to invest £330 million per year for the period 2021-25, making the UK the largest supporter of Gavi, and helping to protect up to 75 million children in the world’s poorest countries.

If you took action in October, asking your MP to contact the Government about its approach to supporting Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, thank you! The Government’s response has been encouraging, but now we need to gain a firm commitment at the pledging conference.

take action!

urge the Government to commit to funding global vaccinations programmes this March

request that the UK increases its investment in Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance by 10% to meet the global need for immunisation coverage

I took action!

we’re here to support you!

If you have any questions or need support or advice in writing your letter, please contact Naveed Chaudhri, Head of Campaigns, at [email protected].

keeping vaccines cool in remote Kashmir

In mountainous northern Kashmir, a new solar-powered fridge is keeping local children protected from disease. Housed at the Public Health Centre Keran in Kashmir, it is a key piece of equipment to protect isolated communities from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Last-mile vaccination in such hard-to-reach terrain is made possible by a team of dedicated doctors and health workers, aided by a robust and efficient cold storage system for vaccines. The fridge is a fairly recent upgrade for Keran’s health establishment. Installed in May 2023, a vaccine refrigerator that works year-round has massively eased vaccine management in the local area.

You can read more about this story here.

Image: Health officials check the vaccine vials in one of India’s vaccine cold storage terminals in Keran in northern Kashmir.

Credit: Gavi / Nasir Yousufi