Gavi is a Swiss foundation with international institutional status in Switzerland and a public charity in the United States. GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, was founded in 2000 in recognition of the fact that vaccines and vaccinations are a unique cost-effective way to protect health and prevent deaths, that existing vaccines in developing countries have not been underutilized and/or adapted to the needs of developing countries, and that vaccines are protected by a global funding mechanism and better coordination between public authorities. and public. could be better made available to private actors. Gavi provides legal risk analysis and assists the Gavi Secretariat and the Board of Directors and, where appropriate, other affiliates on all legal matters. New legal status in Switzerland will help GAVI fulfil its vital mission Dr. Julian Lob-Levyt, Executive Director of GAVI (left) and Ambassador Paul Seger, Director of the Department of International Law, after the signing of the agreement recognising GAVI as an independent international institution. Source: GAVI/2009/Riedo Romano. GAVI brings together developing governments and donors, the World Health Organization[4], UNICEF[5], the World Bank[6], the vaccine industry in developed and developing countries, research and technology agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation[7] and other private philanthropists. GAVI has observer status with the World Health Assembly.
In the United States, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is recognized as the foreign equivalent of a public charity in the United States under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. This charitable status exempts Gavi from U.S. federal income tax and U.S. tax. In addition, charitable status allows private foundations to contribute to Gavi without having to take on the oversight responsibility of ensuring that funds are used for charitable purposes, requiring extensive reporting and legal work. As a result, most private foundations require granting agencies to have 501(c)(3) public charity status because of the administrative burden of paying contributions to organizations that do not have that charitable status. Operational procedures of the Gavi Alliance Board and Committee The number of manufacturers producing certified pentavalent vaccines has increased, making the market more competitive. GAVI chart; Manufacturers are not named. [clarification needed] IFFIm is an international development finance initiative that raises funds in international capital markets to support Gavi`s programmes. IFFIm is registered as a private company in England and Wales and registered with the UK Charity Commission as a charity. Gavi is the only member of IFFIm.
The ACT Accelerator – a global solution to a global problem The ACT Accelerator was created to contain the COVID-19 pandemic faster and more effectively. While the Gavi Secretariat oversees the day-to-day operations of the Vaccine Alliance, the Board is responsible for strategic direction and policy development. COVAX is the vaccine pillar of the ACT Accelerator, co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi. In January 2020, MSF reiterated its call on GAVI to buy the cheaper pneumococcal vaccine in bulk and vaccinate more of the 55 million children who are not vaccinated. [32] They also appealed to the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Gates Foundation, arguing that GAVI could have done more to lower vaccine prices. [33] Bern, 23 June 2009 – The GAVI Alliance, hosted by UNICEF since its creation in 2000, has become an independent international institution – the first organisation to receive such recognition under the new Swiss Host State Act. Since 1 January 2011, the eligibility threshold has been adjusted annually for inflation. In June 2015, the Board adopted Gavi`s new Regulatory and Transition Policy. It states that countries` eligibility is determined by their average GNI per capita over the past three years.
GAVI has been praised for its innovation, efficiency and reduced bureaucracy compared to multilateral government institutions such as the WTO. GAVI programmes can often deliver quantified, politically attractive and easy-to-explain results during an election cycle, which is attractive to biases trapped in an electoral cycle. [8] In August 2019, MSF asked GAVI to stop subsidizing GSK and Pfizer for the market commitment, which they described as a duopoly, and instead buy the vaccine from a new third-party manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India, which offered the vaccine at 2/3 of the price offered by both at the time. Given that pneumococcal vaccine accounted for 40% of GAVI`s vaccine purchase costs, a 33% price reduction would save GAVI billions (13% of the total cost of purchasing vaccines[31]). During the current fourth strategic period (2016-2020), new World Bank data classifying Syria as a low-income country meant the country was eligible for Gavi support. During this period, 19 countries are expected to withdraw from our support, bringing the projected number of Gavi-eligible countries to 54 by the end of 2020. CEPI and SK bioscience expand collaboration to develop next-generation COVID-19 vaccine GAVI support aims to deliver life-saving vaccines and strengthen health systems. Since 2000, GAVI has disbursed $2 billion to immunize an additional 213 million children and prevent more than 3.4 million premature deaths. GAVI was founded in 2000 as a successor to the Childhood Vaccine Initiative launched in 1990. [20] Under the Headquarters Agreement, signed today on behalf of the Federal Council by Ambassador Paul Seger, Director of the Department of International Law, the Geneva-based GAVI Alliance enjoys privileges and immunities similar to those enjoyed by other intergovernmental organisations in Switzerland. Following the recent Global Vaccine Summit in June 2020, held in the UK, $8.8 billion was raised for the 2021-2025 funding cycle; to exceed the target of $7.4 billion.
This included $2 billion from the UK, $1.6 billion from the Gates Foundation and $1 billion from Norway. [16]. Over the period 2016-2020, the UK was the largest donor to Gavi in the period 2016-2020, providing around 25% of total funding, followed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the US and Norway. [18] During Gavi`s third strategic period, 2011-2015, South Sudan became an independent state and was added to the group of Gavi-eligible countries. During the same period, assistance to Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina came to an end. “We are very grateful to the Swiss government for hosting the GAVI Alliance Secretariat,” said Dr Lob-Levyt. Later this month, the Gavi team supported Halo; a TikTok-centric campaign led by scientists from the UK, US, South Africa, India and Brazil to improve understanding of coronavirus vaccine research. [25] The GAVI Alliance is a global public-private partnership for health that aims to save children`s lives and protect people`s health by improving access to immunization in 72 developing countries. It brings together all major players in immunization, including developing governments and donors, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry in developed and developing countries, research and technical agencies, civil society organizations, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private philanthropists. The global pandemic has already caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and disrupted the lives of billions. In addition to reducing the tragic loss of life and the possibility of controlling the pandemic, the introduction of a vaccine will prevent the global economy from running out of $375 billion each month. Equitable global access to a vaccine, especially the protection of health workers and the most vulnerable, is the only way to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on public health and the economy.
Gavi follows five-year funding cycles that allow it to negotiate long-term contracts with manufacturers, knowing that the funding will be available. [15] In January 2015, MSF also asked GSK and Pfizer to reduce the price of pneumococcal vaccine in developing countries to $5 per child, a price they considered competitive. [30] Learn more about the people, policies and processes that manage Gavi.