The Government could have saved hundreds of thousands more lives if it had maintained the amount of money given to vaccinate children in the world’s poorest countries, campaigners have claimed.
In 2020, former prime minister Boris Johnson pledged £1.65 billion over five years to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
But now the Government has announced that it will give £1.25 billion between 2026 and 2030.
While some have praised the pledge, others have said that a reduction in the amount given to Gavi will lead to fewer lives being saved.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said that the money will help Gavi protect up to 500 million children from some of the world’s deadliest diseases such as meningitis, cholera and measles.
Announcing the funds at Gavi’s global summit in Brussels, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “Gavi’s global impact is undeniable. Over one billion children vaccinated, over 18 million lives saved, over 250 billion dollars injected into the global economy.
“I’m immensely proud of the role the UK has played in reaching these milestones. Our ongoing partnership with Gavi will give millions of children a better start, save lives and protect us all from the spread of deadly diseases.”
Commenting on the pledge, Adrian Lovett, the ONE Campaign’s UK executive director, said: “This is an important pledge from the UK to Gavi, a vital force in the fight against preventable disease.
“But despite this good news, we are seeing the harsh impact of the Prime Minister’s deep cut to overall aid levels.
“The UK’s contribution to Gavi could have saved almost 400,000 more lives if it had been maintained at the same level as before. And further impossible choices are looming.”
Dr Philip Goodwin, chief executive for the UK Committee for Unicef, said: “This investment shows the UK’s ongoing commitment to global partnerships that protect children around the world from preventable disease.
“However, cuts to the aid budget still pose a grave threat to children.
“We urge the UK Government to maximise this Gavi commitment by also funding other critical health services that make immunisation fully effective.”
Elsewhere, GSK and Bharat Biotech announced that the price of the world’s first malaria vaccine for children in countries where malaria is endemic will be reduced by more than half, to less than five dollars a vaccine.
The jab is expected to be rolled out in 12 endemic countries in Africa through routine immunisation programmes by the end of 2025.
It comes as a new report revealed that global vaccination coverage against deadly diseases had stalled in recent decades.
The new review, published in The Lancet, concludes that as a result, millions of children around the world are left vulnerable to preventable disease and death.
Senior study author Dr Jonathan Mosser, from the University of Washington in the US, said: “Routine childhood vaccinations are among the most powerful and cost-effective public health interventions available, but persistent global inequalities, challenges from the Covid pandemic, and the growth of vaccine misinformation and hesitancy have all contributed to faltering immunisation progress.
“These trends increase the risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles, polio and diphtheria.”
In May the new aid minister, Baroness Jenny Chapman, said that the days of the British Government acting as a “global charity” are “over”.
Her appointment followed the resignation of Anneliese Dodds, who quit as development minister in protest at the decision to cut the aid budget to fund increased defence spending.
