Urge Congress to add funding to global vaccine program for kids

Published 1:30 am Thursday, October 24, 2024

Global vaccine program

Urge Congress to add funding

As a pediatrician and teacher, it seems obvious to us to take action that would save millions of childrens’ lives. In 2022, 4.9 million children under the age of 5 died due mostly to preventable health problems like diarrhea, pneumonia and measles. But there is proven strategy to fix this.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is an international partnership that provides essential supports for locally led vaccine programs worldwide. Since its inception, Gavi has helped vaccinate over 1 billion children around the world, saving 17.3 million lives. Gavi now wants to reach another 500 million children with life-saving vaccines over the next five years, while also supporting vaccine manufacturing in Africa.

The U.S. just took a big step in putting this plan into action. At the June 2024 Gavi pre-replenishment meeting in Paris, the U.S. pledged at least $1.58 billion for Gavi over the next five years. This is an excellent start. But we can do more.

We urge our members of Congress to build on the U.S. promise by increasing funding for Gavi in this year’s annual spending bills.

Michael and Leslie Boyer

Bremerton