Skip to main content

Written question asked by Virendra Sharma (Labour) on Wednesday, 30 October 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 4 November 2019 (named day). It was answered by Andrew Murrison (Conservative) on Monday, 4 November 2019 on behalf of the Department for International Development.


Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if the Government will ensure that its support for the Vaccine Alliance, Gavi, in 2020 will include the objective of improving nutrition for children under the age of five.

Answer

Gavi’s mission to save children’s lives by increasing equitable use of vaccines is directly aligned to the UK’s ambition to end preventable deaths of new-born babies and children under 5 years of age by 2030, under Sustainable Development Goal 3, and we have recently renewed our commitment to this goal. The UK is the largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, committing £1.44 billion between 2016 and 2020. This support will vaccinate 76 million additional children by 2020, saving 1.4 million lives from vaccine-preventable diseases in 68 of the world’s poorest countries. The UK will host the pledging conference for Gavi in June 2020.

DFID support to Gavi includes a wider package of health care support designed to strengthen and integrate services. Immunisation is often a child’s first point of contact with their health service. It creates an opportunity where malnourished children can be identified and treated. Vaccines can also prevent some of the infectious diseases and causes of malnutrition.

The UK is committed to investment in the integration of nutrition within other sectors, including health. We have championed efforts to achieve universal health coverage by bringing together initiatives on health security, antimicrobial resistance, and nutrition, into a single universal health coverage approach.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
7653
Session
2019-19
Subjects
Children Nutrition Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk