GAVI Alliance

Seth Berkley, Dagfinn Høybråten

The GAVI Alliance (formerly '' Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization ,'' engl. '' Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation '') is a global public-private partnership based in Geneva. Your goal is to save the lives of children and improve the health of people - through simplified access to immunization against preventable life-threatening diseases in developing countries.

Alliance members are governments of developed and developing countries, the World Health Organization ( WHO), UNICEF, the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, non-governmental organizations, vaccine manufacturers in developed and developing countries as well as health and research institutions and other private donors. CEO of Allianz is Dagfinn Høybråten, who took over this position in December 2010 by Mary Robinson. Seth Berkley is since August 2011 CEO of the GAVI Alliance.

Why GAVI was established?

The GAVI Alliance was founded in 2000 to meet the already stagnant since the late 1990s, some even declining immunization rates in the poorest countries of the world. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided initial 750 million U.S. dollars available to reach children in developing countries with vaccines.

What GAVI has achieved since its inception?

In the first ten years since its inception, GAVI has the vaccination of 288 million children against life-threatening diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough (pertussis ), hepatitis B, yellow fever and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib, a causative agent of meningitis ( meningitis ) and pneumonia ) financed. In this way, deaths have been prevented, according to estimates by the WHO in 2010 over 5 million.

In addition, the GAVI Alliance has started since 2010 so to introduce two new vaccines in developing countries: The pneumococcal vaccine protects against pneumonia, the vaccine against rotavirus before a major cause of diarrheal disease. Pneumonia and diarrheal diseases are the main causes of death in children under five in developing countries. The two diseases are responsible for nearly 40 percent of all deaths.

Were after a donor conference in June 2011, on the total of almost 3 billion euros (4.3 billion dollars ) pledged for vaccination programs, the Impfallianz announced that accelerate access to new vaccines and to prevent 2015 a further four million premature deaths. To achieve the Millennium Development Goal No. 4 ( reducing child mortality of under- five -year-olds by two thirds by 2015) make a significant contribution vaccinations.

Operation

Building on the commitment of developing countries

GAVI it is working according to the principle '' country -owned, country -driven '': This means that developing countries set themselves which vaccinations they need to apply for their funding and monitor the implementation. GAVI also requires that the recipient countries share the cost of the vaccination programs. In this way one wants to strengthen the sense of responsibility of the countries and ensure the sustainability of immunization programs. 2011 have applied for the financing of vaccines in GAVI 50 countries.

Influencing the vaccine market

GAVI brings together the demand for vaccines and can shop this way large quantities. Overall, UNICEF asks for 40 percent of global vaccine volume, about half of them on behalf of GAVI. In addition, GAVI can ensure a reliable and long -term financing. In this way, the vaccine market is positively affected: More and more manufacturers, including those from emerging countries are now keen to produce appropriate vaccines for developing countries. The resulting competition between the company ensures that the prices of vaccines fall. GAVI has committed to continue to promote and support these developments to; this, GAVI has explained the influence of vaccine markets into a focus of her work.