05 March 2007

The World Knows How

The world knows how to immunize its children, and the GAVI Alliance strives to provide the leadership and resources to make sure that vaccines are delivered to all the world’s children, no matter how remote their homes or how poor their families.

Partners in the GAVI Alliance include national governments, from both donor nations and developing countries. Donors currently represented on the GAVI board are France, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Developing nation representatives from Armenia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Ghana also serve on the board in 2007.

The United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, and the World Bank are also part of the alliance, along with nongovernmental organizations, such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the International Pediatric Association.

Pharmaceutical companies from both the developed and the developing world are partners in the GAVI Alliance today, with Merck and Co., Inc., now serving on the board. The vaccine manufacturers participating in this effort produce the greatest share of the world’s supply.

This article is from the March 2007 edition of eJournal USA, “Lifesaving Vaccines.”