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Vaccinate every child, says UNICEF, as donors map out new immunization programmes

A student receives a measles vaccination during the National Measles Immunization Campaign in Vientiane, Lao PDR.

NEW YORK/LONDON/GENEVA/COPENHAGEN, 6 June 2011- As world leaders prepare to converge on London for the GAVI Alliance pledging conference next week, UNICEF is calling on donors to fund a global immunization effort to save millions of children’s lives by 2015.

The children’s agency emphasized that the best use of funding for vaccines is to implement programmes that prioritize the hardest to reach children who currently miss out on these simple life-saving vaccines. Currently one in five children is not vaccinated.

"We have the vaccines and the technical expertise to save millions of children's lives," said Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director, who will be in London for the conference. "Now we must match our knowledge with our commitment to help the poorest, most vulnerable children. No immunization campaign can succeed fully without reaching the hardest to reach."

UNICEF is in the unique position of being involved at every stage of the immunization process, supplying vaccines to 56 per cent of the world’s children and working on the ground in over 150 countries. It is a founding partner in the GAVI Alliance, which is holding a conference in London on June 13th where it is hoped donor countries will make firm commitments to fund vaccines through 2015.

The opportunity: Saving four million children's lives by 2015
Beyond expanding coverage to reach the unreached, focus must also be on introducing powerful new vaccines to countries that do not have access to them. Pneumonia and diarrhoea cause one-third of all childhood deaths, and new vaccines against some causes of these deadly diseases now exist.

The GAVI Alliance, UNICEF and partners aim to save an additional four million children’s lives by 2015 by rolling out these new vaccines and others. Despite significant progress in reducing childhood mortality, nearly two million children still die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases.

A toddler cries while being vaccinated against measles, at the Kopeta 'Puskesmas' (community health centre) in the north-eastern port town of Maumere in Sikka District, on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia.

UNICEF’s role
In 2010, UNICEF procured, on behalf of GAVI and governments of developing countries, around 2.53 billion doses of traditional and new vaccines worth $750 million. As the leading vaccine procurement agency in the world, with its supply division based in Copenhagen, UNICEF contributes to the health and security of the global vaccine market.

UNICEF’s procurement work is guided by an over-arching vaccine security strategy that entails working with multiple, WHO-prequalified suppliers to discourage monopolies; accurately forecasting multi-year global vaccine needs in order to negotiate favourable prices and ensure an adequate supply of vaccines; and securing the safe and timely delivery of the vaccines to countries.

Beyond procurement, UNICEF works with governments to help deliver vaccines to communities via a “cold chain”, train vaccinators, and ensure that care-givers understand the importance of immunization and how to access it.

About vaccine pricing
In an effort to improve transparency around vaccine supply, UNICEF recently made public the prices it pays for individual vaccines. As the largest buyer of children’s vaccines, this move is in line with UNICEF’s commitment to ensure that vaccine supply is sustainable and affordable. For more information, see: http://www.unicef.org/media/media_58692.html

For latest on vaccine pricing, please visit: http://www.unicef.org/supply/index_57476.html

About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org

For more information, please contact:

Christian Moen, UNICEF New York, + 1 212 326 7516, cmoen@unicef.org

Kathryn Donovan, UNICEF New York, +1 212 326 7452, kdonovan@unicef.org

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