Brussels, 10/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - €10 million is the additional amount the European Commission has pledged to make available to buy vital vaccines for vulnerable populations in the poorest countries in the world. Andris Piebalgs, European Development Commissioner, will make the formal announcement on Monday 13 June at the international “Saving Children's Lives” conference in London, which will bring together the donors of GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation).
“It is shameful that in the 21st-century, nearly 2,000,000 children die each year from diseases which could be prevented by simple vaccine. That's why I am pleased to announce our new commitment. We are also determined to support national health systems in the developing countries - this is the only way to create sustainable conditions for treating patients all over the world”, Commissioner Piebalgs stressed in a press release on Friday 10 June.
The Commission's contribution will fund the purchase of vaccines against pneumonia and diarrhoea - the two main causes of child mortality in developing countries, and new vaccines or those which are currently underused, such as vaccinations for German measles, typhoid and meningitis. This money comes on top of the €20 million it has already promised to GAVI for 2011-2013, and in addition to the envelope of more than half a billion euros it makes available each year for health in the developing countries.
The objective of the London conference is to cover the funding needs of GAVI, which have been set at US$3.7 billion (€2.6 billion) to inoculate some 250 million children over the next five years, thus saving around 4 million lives. (A.N./transl.fl)