US to Commit $1B to Gavi Until 2018

Monday, January 26, 2015

The welcome reception to kick off the pledging conference in Berlin, Germany, for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance will be held later tonight, but already the public-private partnership has gained itself one backer: the United States.

In an announcement shared with Devex over the weekend, the United States said it will be committing $1 billion to the alliance through 2018. While still subject to congressional approval, this shows an increased commitment by the bilateral donor to Gavi.

At Gavi’s first pledging conference in 2011, the United States pledged $450 million, plus an additional $90 million that was subject to congressional approval. To date, the donor is $7 million shy of meeting its commitment, according to a breakdown document published in September.

“With Gavi supporting the accelerated roll-out [of the] pentavalent, pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines, tackling the leading causes of the world’s two biggest childhood killers — pneumonia and diarrhea — the impact of the alliance will be felt even more between now and the end of the decade,” Chris Thomas, health and development officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development, told Devex in an email.

U.S. support brings total expected Gavi resources for the 2016-2020 strategic period to $3.85 billion. The estimated figure includes pledges already made in advance by the European Union, Norway, Canada and the United Kingdom, the alliance’s biggest donor.

It’s still far from the alliance’ $7.5 billion target. Based on these announcements, however, all donors except for the United Kingdom have increased their commitments to Gavi. In 2010 and 2011, the United Kingdom made an “exceptional” pledge of $2.5 billion for the alliance for the period 2011-2015.

Source: Devex (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Health Care
Tags
public-private partnerships, vaccines