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Abu Dhabi, 10 December 2018 - Children across Africa and Asia will be protected against some of the world’s deadliest diseases thanks to a new $15 million pledge to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance by the Republic of Korea.
The new funding, announced today at Gavi’s mid-term review in Abu Dhabi, will be delivered over three years from 2019-2021 and will be funded through Korea’s Global Disease Eradication Fund. South Korea became the first East Asian donor to Gavi in 2010, and has since provided $19 million to the Vaccine Alliance.
“Korea was the first East Asian nation to lend its support to Gavi and it has now been a steadfast supporter of our mission to ensure no child goes without lifesaving vaccines for nearly a decade,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “This new funding will help vaccinate millions of children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases. I’d like to offer my sincere thanks on behalf of Gavi to the government and people of Korea for this support.”
“I am very proud of the remarkable progress and achievements made by the Alliance,” said Kyung-ah Lee, Deputy Director-General of the Development Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). “As a longstanding donor to Gavi, the Republic of Korea will continue to support the Alliance and actively take part in global partnerships for health security. And let us build the strongest Alliance ever together to achieve the SDGs by delivering immunisation and saving lives.”
Korea’s contribution will support Gavi’s work protecting children in 68 of the world’s poorest countries in Africa and Asia against some of the world’s leading killers of children, like pneumonia, diarrhoea and measles. Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has immunised over 700 million children, saving 10 million lives.
As well as financial support, Korean vaccine manufacturers are also having a major impact on the health of children in the developing world. EuBiologics, for example, based in Gangwon-do now produces the majority of the Gavi-funded global cholera vaccine stockpile, which has recently been used to tackle outbreaks in countries from Yemen to Bangladesh to Nigeria.
Gavi’s mid-term review, held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 10-11 December, is a high-level conference celebrating Gavi’s progress and impact in the world’s poorest countries. By the end of 2018, Gavi will have contributed to the immunisation of 700 million people and the prevention of more than 10 million future deaths. This has contributed to an acceleration in the decline of global under-five mortality rates and brought wider impact beyond immunisation.
As well as reviewing progress made since the last Gavi replenishment in Berlin in 2015, this high-level conference is also an opportunity to shape Gavi’s future and help overcome the challenges preventing children from receiving the full course of recommended vaccines. Immunisation is a cost effective and high impact intervention that is core to primary health care and provides a robust platform to deliver better health for all.
Notes to editors
About Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases. Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has helped to immunise a whole generation – over 760 million children – and prevented more than 13 million deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 developing countries. Gavi also plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting health systems as well as funding global stockpiles for Ebola, cholera, meningitis and yellow fever vaccines. After two decades of progress, Gavi is now focused on protecting the next generation and reaching the unvaccinated children still being left behind, employing innovative finance and the latest technology – from drones to biometrics – to save millions more lives, prevent outbreaks before they can spread and help countries on the road to self-sufficiency. Learn more at www.gavi.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
The Vaccine Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. View the full list of donor governments and other leading organizations that fund Gavi’s work here.