UK to host Gavi pledging conference in 2020

The UK will host a major international conference in 2020 to raise funds for life-saving vaccinations for some of the world’s poorest children, International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt announced.

The conference will bring together political leaders, civil society, public and private donors, vaccine manufacturers and governments to support the global vaccination body Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which has protected 700 million children in countries like Malawi, Haiti and Cameroon from diseases like measles, whooping cough and pneumonia since 2000.

More recently Gavi has delivered the first ever cholera vaccination campaign in Yemen, which helped protect more than 450,000 people. Last year alone, Senegal became the first Gavi-supported country in West Africa to introduce the HPV vaccine into its routine immunisation programme, protecting 200,000 nine-year-old girls against cervical cancer.

Hosting this conference demonstrates the UK’s ongoing commitment to global health security and creating equal access to vaccines for children, wherever they live. UK aid already supports Gavi and our contribution will vaccinate 76 million children, saving 1.4 million lives from vaccine-preventable diseases by 2020.

“The UK’s commitment to immunise millions of children and save lives is delivered through our partnership with Gavi and I am delighted the UK will be hosting the Gavi conference in 2020. Immunisation is a vital part of all our lives and no child should suffer by at the hands of a vaccine-preventable disease. But tragically over half a million children continue to die in Africa every year from vaccine-preventable diseases. By bringing together international donors at this conference we can help create a healthier, safer and more prosperous world which is in all of our interests,” said International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt. 

The UK is Gavi’s largest donor and is currently responsible for 25% of Gavi’s budget and UK aid is helping to ensure children in the world’s poorest countries receive the vaccines they need.

Next year’s event builds on previous Gavi replenishment conferences, the first hosted in London in 2011 – which raised US$ 4.3 billion and was attended by Bill Gates.

Since its last replenishment in Berlin in 2015, which raised US$7.5 billion, Gavi has also helped 15 countries to transition out of Gavi support and fund 100% of their own vaccination programmes.

Gavi helps drive down the price of vaccinations by pooling demand from the world’s poorest countries which has helped boost vaccine coverage from 60% to 80% in Gavi-supported countries since 2000.

Original source: DFID
Published on 13 February 2019