Our collaboration with Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance

Created in 2000, Gavi is an international organization – a global Vaccine Alliance, bringing together public and private sectors with the shared goal of saving lives and protecting people’s health by increasing equitable and sustainable use of vaccines. As part of its mission, Gavi has helped vaccinate more than 981 million children in the world’s poorest countries, preventing more than 16.2 million future deaths.

Gavi’s impact draws on the strengths of its core partners, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It plays a critical role in strengthening primary health care (PHC), bringing us closer to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and ensuring that no one is left behind.

Gavi also works with donors, including sovereign governments, private sector foundations and corporate partners; NGOs, advocacy groups, professional and community associations, faith-based organizations and academia; vaccine manufacturers, including those in emerging markets; research and technical health institutes; and implementing country governments.

In 2008, the "La Caixa" Foundation became GAVI's first private partner, creating an alliance for childhood vaccination so that Spanish companies, non-profit organizations and individuals would have the opportunity to collaborate with GAVI in its fight against infant mortality. In addition, "La Caixa" Foundation together with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation respectively double, through parallel contributions, all funds donated to GAVI by companies, organizations and individuals, multiplying by four the efforts against child mortality.

The goal of Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance is to save children's lives and protect the population by increasing vaccination levels in the world’s poorest countries. By improving access to new and under-used vaccines for millions of the most vulnerable children, the Vaccine Alliance is transforming the lives of individuals, helping to boost the economies of lower-income countries and making the world safer for everyone.

Eligible countries can apply to Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance for support in 4 distinct areas: health systems strengthening, vaccination support, cold chain equipment optimization and technical assistance. Countries must be able to locate hard-to-reach communities and identify those children who have not yet been immunized with the vaccine schedule recommended by the World Health Organization. Each country should conduct comprehensive immunization gap analyses to determine the level of investment needed in the future.

An Independent Committee is responsible for evaluating all applications. Once an application is approved, funds and/or vaccines are sent to the country, thus beginning a cycle of implementation in which, on an annual basis, countries must monitor and report on the progress of the programs in order for the aid to be renewed.

Gavi works hand in hand with the recipient countries with the ultimate goal of providing them with strong health systems that will allow them to become fully autonomous in the future.

The contribution of Amara NextGen Foundation will help vaccinate more than 800 children, a figure that will be multiplied by four, thanks to the parallel contributions of "La Caixa" Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

More children survive. The increase in immunization has helped halve childhood mortality by preventing more than 16.2 million future deaths and dramatically driven down the incidence of deadly and debilitating infectious diseases.

Nation building thrives. As children become healthier, they, their families, communities and countries are more able to be economically prosperous and socially stable. For every US$ 1 spent on immunization in Gavi-supported countries in the 2021–2030 period, US$ 21 are saved in health care costs, lost wages and lost productivity due to illness and death. When considering the value people place on lives saved by vaccines – which is likely to include the value of costs averted plus the broader societal value of lives saved and people living longer and healthier lives – the return on investment is estimated to be US$ 54 per US$ 1 spent. In Gavi’s first 22 years, our work helped generate more than US$ 185.3 billion in economic benefits in the countries we support.

And global health security improves. In the face of global challenges, such as climate change, population growth, urbanization, human migration, fragility and conflict, Gavi has helped countries broaden vaccine coverage and improve their health systems. This makes them less susceptible and better able to prevent disease outbreaks that pose a threat to people in these countries, protecting millions of others around the world.