Brazil joins immunisation initiative to save millions of lives in developing countries

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil announced today, during his state visit to the UK, that Brazil would be joining the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) and will be contributing $20 million over 20 years.

Brazil joins France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Norway in contributing to the facility, alongside the UK, led by Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International Development.

Speaking following a meeting with President Lula in London, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown said:

"The new International Finance Facility for Immunisation has the capacity to save millions of lives that would otherwise be needlessly lost. That is why I am delighted that President Lula has committed to support this innovative new financing mechanism today. President Lula has worked tirelessly on fighting international poverty for many years and I look forward to continuing to work closely with him towards the Millennium Development Goals."
President Lula said:

“Brazil and the UK understand that our future depends on victory in the struggle against social inequality, and on the elimination of hunger and poverty. To this effect, Brazil has decided to join the British initiative of creating an International Finance Facility for Immunisation, and will be contributing $20 million dollars over 20 years.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm)

1. In recent years, immunisation efforts have suffered from a lack of stable, predictable and coordinated cash flows. The International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) will use long-term, legally binding donor commitments to leverage additional money from international capital markets for immediate use as grants to developing countries to support immunisation programmes.

2. Alongside additional contributions announced by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2005, the innovative new initiative will ensure the provision of an additional $4 billion over the next ten years to tackle some of the deadliest diseases in some of the world’s poorest countries.

3. The World Health Organisation has estimated that the additional resources could save 5 million children’s lives by 2015 and a further 5 million lives thereafter by tackling immunisable diseases. And by frontloading resources the facility will allow for 2 million more lives to be saved than would otherwise have been possible. The more predictable and stable aid will also provide more certainty for manufacturers to invest in new and under-used vaccines and accelerate the reduction of vaccine prices – helping to save many more lives than would otherwise have been possible

4. The additional resources will support the work of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) to improve access to underused vaccines and speed up the development and introduction of new vaccines in poorer countries.

5. The first bonds will be ready to be issued by the IFFIm within a matter of weeks, and the first disbursements to support immunisation in the world’s poorest countries is intended to take place shortly after. The money will finance two major strategic approaches to reducing the number of deaths among children under five in more than 70 of the world’s poorest countries. New resources will be used to invest in the introduction of new and underused vaccines including combination vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and Hib. Money will also be targeted towards the strengthening of immunisation delivery systems, including support for increasing routine immunisation coverage in the poorest countries and for conducting mass immunisation campaigns to rapidly reduce mortality from measles and tetanus.

Government contributions

6. The individual Government pledges made to date are as follows:

· United Kingdom has pledged an annual average contribution of $130m a year for 20 years;
· France has pledged an annual average of $100m a year for 20 years;
· Italy has pledged an annual average of $30m a year for 20 years;
· Spain has pledged an annual average of $12m a year for 20 years;
· Sweden and Norway have each made a total pledge of $27m; and
· Brazil has made a total pledge of $20m.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

7. In 2005, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a contribution of $750m over 10 years to the Vaccine Fund which will be provided alongside the resources from Government donors to the IFFIm. These contributions are joined together in a global campaign to deliver immunization, and these funds will be jointly managed to maximize financial efficiency and ease of access for recipient countries.

Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI)

8. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) brings together all major stakeholders in global immunisation. These include governments in industrialised and developing countries, UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank, non-governmental organisations, foundations, vaccine manufacturers, and public health and research institutions. The GAVI Fund was created by GAVI partners to help build and maintain additional financial support for the Alliance.

9. Media enquiries to Charlotte Farrar, HM Treasury Press Office, on 020 7270 5188.

10. Non-media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on 020 7270 4558, or by e-mail to public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk

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