The GAVI Alliance, a public-private global health partnership, on Tuesday announced that it would provide funding to 37 countries to offer vaccination against major childhood diseases.
According to the Geneva-based group, the funding will cover vaccination against rotavirus in 16 developing countries, and pneumococcus, diarrhea, as well as pneumonia in 18 more countries. The program also involves pentavalent vaccines in several other states.
In total, 24 African countries and 13 low-income countries in Asia and Latin America will benefit from the funding program.
Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrhea in children under the age of five. Over half a million children worldwide die from rotavirus related severe diarrhea each year, with nearly 50 percent of the fatal cases occurring in Africa.
Pneumococcal disease may lead to pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis. It is responsible for another half million childhood death globally, mostly in Africa and Asia.
The GAVI Alliance, launched at the World Economic Forum in 2000, is tasked to save children's lives by increasing access to immunization in low-income countries.
The group brings together developing countries and donor governments, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank, the vaccine industry, research and technical agencies, civil society organizations, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private philanthropists.
Orignal From: The GAVI Alliance, a public-private global health partnership
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