35 Heads of state including President Uhuru Kenyatta, as well as leaders of private sector organisations and civil society are today (Thursday) expected to attend and will come together to raise funds for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Hosting the event virtually is UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and he will be urging nations to pledge funding for vaccinations to save millions of lives in the poorest countries and protect the world from future outbreaks of infectious diseases.
The summit aims to raise at least $7.4 billion(approx. kes 980 billion) for Gavi to immunise a further 300 million children in the world’s poorest countries by 2025.
In a statement from the British High Commissioner to Kenya, Jane Marriott, the funding is vital as it will not only protect children from deadly diseases like polio, diphtheria and measles and save up to 8 million lives, but will also help ensure the global recovery from coronavirus.
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She added that by vaccinating millions of children against these other deadly diseases, we are protecting healthcare systems in the world’s poorest countries so they can cope with rising coronavirus cases.
Speaking ahead of the Summit, Prime Minister Boris said: “I hope this summit will be the moment when the world comes together to unite humanity in the fight against disease.I urge you to join us to fortify this lifesaving alliance and inaugurate a new era of global health co-operation, which I believe is now the most essential shared endeavour of our lifetimes.”
“GAVI has been operating for over 20 years having vaccinated over 700 million children across the world and Kenya is one of the top 20 priority countries.If you’re in Kenya and have received a measles, pneuomonia or HPV vaccine that has been through GAVI with UK support. This work is essential if we are to avoid further disease outbreaks and epidemics that would result in needless child deaths and place additional strain on health systems already weakened by coronavirus.” Said Jane Marriott said.
CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance Dr Seth Berkley said:“Over the past two decades we have witnessed incredible progress boosting vaccine coverage in the world’s poorest countries: more children in more countries are now protected against more diseases than at any point in history. However, these historic advances in global health are now at risk of unravelling as COVID-19 causes unprecedented disruption to vaccine programmes worldwide. We face the very real prospect of a global resurgence of diseases like measles, polio and yellow fever, which would put us all at risk.”
Adding that; “That’s why today’s Global Vaccine Summit is so important, bringing together leaders from around the world – led by the UK – to build global health security and keep us all safe from further outbreaks.”
The UK is the largest supporter of Gavi to date, with International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan recently announcing the UK’s £1.65 billion (Kes 218 billion)pledge – funding which will immunise up to 75 million children.
As part of the global effort to find a coronavirus vaccine, the UK is also the single largest donor of any country to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations’ (CEPI) urgent appeal.
If a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine is developed, Gavi will have a role in its delivery around the world. Global access will ensure a collective international recovery and reduce the risk of future waves of infection.
The Prime Minister will open the summit with an address to the delegates and is
expected to close the event with a keynote speech, alongside Bill Gates and Gavi’s Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
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