Government hosts business breakfast to boost vaccines

09 June 2011

Andrew Mitchell and George Osborne today called on businesses to join the drive to immunise 250 million children in the developing world against deadly childhood diseases.

The International Development Secretary was joined by the Chancellor at a breakfast in Downing Street attended by a number of FTSE100 companies for the launch of the GAVI Matching Fund for Immunisation.

They were joined by representatives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Comic Relief.

Businesses were invited to join the scheme, a three-way matching programme which aims to attract funding from corporations, and from their customers or employees.

The breakfast was attended by leading global mining company Anglo American and charitable foundation Absolute Return for Kids (ARK), both of whom made pledges to GAVI to fund immunisations.

The UK Government will match donations to an agreed limit, potentially raising £100 million over the next five years to pay for vaccinations for children against diseases including pneumonia, Hepatitis B and rotavirus, which causes potentially fatal diarrhoea.

If the scheme is successful it will see millions more children in countries such as Sierra Leone, Mozambique and Zambia immunised against killer childhood diseases.

Andrew Mitchell, Secretary of State for International Development, said:

“It is an international disgrace that three children die every minute from diseases that children in Britain are immunised against as a matter of course.

“Businesses and their customers have a historic opportunity to play a key role in preventing millions of needless deaths and the UK Government will match their efforts.

“Companies looking to meet their Corporate Social Responsibility commitments can look to my root and branch review of UK aid in which GAVI came out as a top performer.

“Ahead of next week’s summit in London, we are working tirelessly with the private sector, private philanthropists and other governments to ensure we immunise 250 million children.”

George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:

“The fight to immunise children against preventable diseases is absolutely critical. We cannot stand back and let future generations of children suffer because we did not act.

“The launch of the GAVI match funding scheme gives businesses and their customers a chance to make a real difference to the lives of children around the world and ensure that we do not fail another generation of children.”

Anglo American will today announce a pledge $1 million a year for three years to the UK Government led matching initiative for the GAVI Alliance.

Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive of Anglo American, commented:

“Anglo American is delighted to announce its commitment of $1 million a year for three years to the UK Government led matching initiative for GAVI. We hope that our action will encourage a similar level of support from large companies in the UK and around the world.

“With approximately 95% of our operations in developing countries, Anglo American has a deep appreciation of the vital role health plays in promoting economic growth.

“The scale of the burden of disease in developing countries demands a coordinated response between Government, the private sector and civil society. Anglo American is committed to continuing its support of innovative financing partnerships like GAVI and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, which are tackling these significant healthcare challenges with extraordinary success.”

ARK will pledge £1 million to GAVI to fund vaccines against deadly rotavirus in Zambia.

The British Government will commit up to £50 million to the GAVI Matching Fund for Immunisation.

Companies will be able to make direct pledges to GAVI which the Government will match £1 for £1. Companies are also encouraged to raise further funding for GAVI from other sources. These could be their customers, employees or business peers. All funding will be matched £1 for £1 by the British Government.

This morning’s breakfast comes ahead of GAVI’s five year pledging conference, which takes place on London on 13th June and which aims to raise enough funding to immunise at least a quarter of a billion children and save four million lives.

Britain will be joined round the pledging table by other donors including the USAID, the Norwegian Government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.