Dagfinn Høybråten,
Chair of the GAVI Alliance Board

Our Alliance is broader and stronger than ever

Every 20 seconds a child dies from a vaccine-preventable disease. He or she will most likely be in a developing country. For this still to be happening in the 21st century is unjust and morally unacceptable. Being part of the GAVI Alliance allows me, in some small way, to be part of the solution to this injustice.

My first full year as Board Chair was a pivotal one for GAVI. At the start of the year we faced a funding gap of US$ 3.7 billion in the midst of a global financial crisis and the challenging task of recruiting a new CEO.

The additional funds raised at our pledging conference in June 2011 will help us meet the accelerating demand for vaccines in the years to come. I was equally impressed by the ownership and commitment shown by implementing countries in advancing and co-financing their immunisation programmes. The successful recruitment of a new CEO, Seth Berkley, was another highlight.

Our efforts to engage the private sector also bore fruit in 2011, culminating in the establishment of the GAVI Matching Fund. As part of this initiative, the British Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have pledged to match contributions to immunisation from the private sector. This mechanism has the potential to help immunise millions more children, translating the public–private match into the most important match of all – that between the vaccine and the child.

Seth Berkley, MD,
Chief Executive Officer of the GAVI Alliance

2011 was a ground-breaking year in the history of the Alliance

2011 was a ground-breaking year in the history of the Alliance and an exciting year to have joined GAVI as its new CEO. Helen Evans did an excellent job as interim CEO in the first half of the year. One of the highlights was undoubtedly the success of the June pledging conference. The heightened global attention to immunisation contributed to an escalation in the demand for new vaccine support.

The rapid increase in the take-up of the new pneumococcal vaccine was another high point. Sixteen countries had rolled out the new vaccine by the end of 2011 and a further twenty-one have had their applications for support approved. The number of countries wanting to introduce this and other life-saving vaccines is set to accelerate rapidly over the next few years.

I was especially pleased that we took the first steps towards funding rubella vaccines, which will be rolled out together with measles vaccine, and human papillomavirus vaccines which protect against cervical cancer. We also moved towards more customised ways of strengthening health systems to deliver immunisation by developing tailored approaches for fragile countries.

Critical to GAVI’s mission is a healthy vaccine market, characterised by security of supply, low prices and competition between a wide range of manufacturers. As a result of a GAVI call to action in 2011, manufacturers made price reduction offers on several key vaccines.

Under-five mortality rate in GAVI-eligible countries (per 1,000 live births)

The average under-five mortality rate in GAVI-supported countries fell from 97 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2010 to a projected 95 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2011, in line with GAVI’s target.

Note: Under-five mortality rates are derived from population-weighted estimates of child mortality rates for the 72 countries eligible for GAVI support in 2010.

Number of additional future deaths averted (millions)

By the end of 2011, GAVI-funded vaccines had helped developing countries to prevent a projected 5.5 million future deaths. This is an additional 515,000 averted deaths compared with the end of 2010, slightly above the target of 483,000.

Note: The calculation of the number of future deaths averted takes account of nine vaccines funded by GAVI in all 72 countries eligible for GAVI support in 2010.

In 2011, 57 countries were eligible for GAVI support as their per capita GNI* was equal to or less than US$ 1,500.**

Since GAVI’s inception, 77 countries have received support for vaccines or health system strengthening programmes.

Not all GAVI-eligible countries qualify for every type of support. For instance, for a country to qualify for new vaccine support its coverage for three doses of diphtheria-tetanus pertussis vaccine (DTP3) has to be at least 70%.*** Meningitis A and yellow fever vaccines are exempt from this requirement.

As GAVI aims to provide additional catalytic investments, vaccine support is not provided to countries that are already self-funding the vaccine.

* Based on World Bank per capita GNI data for 2009, published in July 2010.

** Exceptionally, 16 graduating countries were given a final opportunity to apply for GAVI support in 2011.

*** The filter was temporarily reduced to 50% for the 2011 application round.