Immunisation

The benefits of immunisation

We invest in vaccines because they have enormous public health and developmental benefits in developing countries.

Every year, about two million children die of diseases that could be prevented by immunisation. That's one child every 20 seconds.

But vaccines offer a simple, cost-effective solution to this problem. For the price of a cup of coffee a child can be vaccinated against five of the major childhood killers, including haemophilus influenzae B, diphtheria and tetanus.

They prevent disease and save lives. A better health outlook also brings economic benefits.

Our commitments

Support to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI)

Launched in 2000, GAVI is a highly effective organisation which makes underused and new vaccines available to people in developing countries.

GAVI is a public-private partnership that brings together governments, vaccine manufacturers, non-governmental organisations, the Gates Foundation and other multilaterals.

It was one of the top performers in our 2011 Multilateral Aid Review.

GAVI has vaccinated more than 280 million children and saved over five million lives since 2000.

The UK has been a major contributor to GAVI. At a major pledging conference in June 2011, we committed £163m per year for the next five years.

Our support to GAVI will help vaccinate over 80 million children and save 1.4 million lives. That's one child vaccinated every two seconds for five years.

Support to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)

The GPEI is a public-private partnership set up in 1988 to implement the World Health Assembly's call for the eradication of polio.

It is led by national governments but spearheaded by the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, Rotary International and the United States Centre for Disease Control.

The GPEI has immunised 2.5 billion children against polio since it was set up in 1988. This has resulted in a 99% fall in cases worldwide, and it is now striving to rid the world of the final 1%.

However, tackling polio once and for all is proving to be very difficult. Progress is slow in the few countries where transmission of the disease continues to occur. The GPEI is struggling to get the financial and political support that it needs to finish the job.

We have supported the GPEI since it was established and have contributed more than £440 million to it up to 2008. In that year, we pledged a further £100 million over five years, with a further £40 million over two years announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in January 2011.

We also work closely with other donors, governments and organisations to help the GPEI to mobilise the resources and support that it needs to achieve a world free of polio.

Core funding to multilaterals

The WHO is the main body charged with setting immunisation policy and guidance at international level, particularly through the work of the section named Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals.

We provide core funding to the WHO which totalled £12.5 million in 2009/10. This money cannot be specifically tracked to immunisation, precisely because it is core funding.

But in supporting the WHO as a whole this will have contributed to immunisation work.

UNICEF is a leading provider of vaccinations to children in developing countries. Again, we provide core funding to UNICEF - totalling £21 million in 2009/10.

Bilateral programmes

A number of country-specific DFID programmes work to support or strengthen health systems and services, which in turn will enhance their capacity to make immunisation routinely available to the people they serve.

Many countries we work with, such as Tanzania and Burma, are striving for results on immunisation. See Where We Work for more information country by country.

Product development partnerships

We manage several product development partnerships related to immunisation.

Some examples include: