Minister for International Development ( of Darlington):
I wish to inform the House that the Government has pledged new
support to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. This announcement was made
at the Global Summit on Health and Prosperity through
Immunisation in Brussels on 25 June, reaffirming this
Government's commitment to multilateral efforts on global health.
As Gavi's inaugural Board Chair, Nelson Mandela, noted over
twenty years ago “Life or death for a young child too often
depends on whether he or she is born in a country where vaccines
are available”. Whilst we have made remarkable progress in
correcting for these inequities, the job is still not done. More
than 5 million children under 5 still die each year from
preventable causes including vaccine-preventable diseases.
The UK Government was proud to have supported the creation of
Gavi – who since inception in 2000 have enabled the vaccination
of over 1 billion children, saving an estimated 18 million lives.
Today we are proud to invest alongside others in the sustained
efforts to support every child to have a fairer start in life.
The UK will invest £1.25 billion over five years, from 2026 to
2030, in support of Gavi's mission. This will support the
immunisation of 62.5m children, saving around 1.25m lives.
But it is not just because this investment is pursuing an obvious
good that we invest. We also make this commitment as Gavi remains
a vital partner in delivering our ambition for a safer and more
prosperous world.
The threats we face are evolving. Covid-19 taught us that
diseases do not respect borders, and with Anti-Microbial
Resistance (AMR) already contributing to rising mortality, the
link between national and global health security has never been
clearer. Gavi supports UK public health - and therefore protects
the NHS - by preventing disease. Gavi prevents disease both
through routine immunisation and through global stockpiles of
vaccines to respond to outbreaks – such as Ebola or cholera – in
order to prevent these diseases reaching our shores.
Gavi works directly with UK pharmaceutical companies to develop
and manufacture vaccines, for example the MenFive vaccine against
meningitis and the RTS,S and R21 vaccines against malaria. This
investment in the UK's science sector supports economic growth
and job creation, putting money in the pockets of British people.
As the UK pursues a modern approach to development, Gavi must
also continue to deliver on its model of partnership, not
paternalism. In the last 25 years, 19 countries have successfully
transitioned from Gavi support to fully self-finance their
immunisation programmes and some have themselves become Gavi
donors. But there is more to be done.
Multilateral health organisations must go further to maximise
impact. This means putting country needs at the heart of the
future approach. It requires simplifying processes, working more
closely together, and strengthening national health systems to
deliver. It needs the multilateral system to help countries take
the lead in delivering universal health coverage and accelerate
the move to funding their own systems.
