Spanish Government brings global leaders together to take stock of the state of global vaccination, discuss its future
Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares opened the Global Vaccine Impact Conference, bringing together heads of state and government ministers from donor and Gavi implementing countries in Madrid from 13 to 15 June
Global leaders and immunisation experts are coming together to assess the progress of the Vaccine Alliance and discuss the challenges it faces in the future
“Spain considers Global Health as a priority to achieve human development and the well-being of our societies,” said José Manuel Albares, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.
Prof José Manuel Barroso, Gavi Board Chair: “We are grateful to all the heads of state and government ministers along with leaders from civil society and the private sector who, by joining us in Madrid, are recommitting to life-saving immunisation.”
Geneva/Madrid, 13 June, 2023 – Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares opened the Global Vaccine Impact Conference in Madrid today to look at the progress of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in reaching populations across 57 lower-income countries with life-saving vaccines.
The Global Vaccine Impact Conference takes place every 5 years – and the 2023 edition, co-hosted by the Spanish Government and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, brings together heads of state, government ministers and senior officials from Gavi implementing and donor countries. In total, over 200 attendees will participate in the conference, representing government, civil society, the private sector, Vaccine Alliance partners and other global health stakeholders. The conference is an opportunity to look at the state of global vaccination and set out goals for the coming years.
“Spain considers Global Health as a priority to achieve human development and the well-being of our societies,” said José Manuel Albares, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.
Co-chaired by Prof José Manuel Barroso, Gavi Board Chair, the conference opened with an inaugural address by the Foreign Minister of Spain, followed by addresses by H.E. Mr João Lourenço, President of Angola; Dr Seth Berkley, CEO, Gavi; Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO; and Ms Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UNICEF.
Running from 13 to 15 June, other flagship sessions at the conference will focus on how Gavi is progressing towards its global vaccination goals; the power of private sector partnership, emerging immunisation priorities such as for HPV and malaria, supporting countries on epidemic/pandemic preparedness and how the Alliance can help fight climate change.
“As Spain prepares to kick off its EU presidency, we thank the Spanish Government for its leadership in global health and its partnership as we mark this major milestone for the Vaccine Alliance,” said Prof José Manuel Barroso, Gavi Board Chair. “We are grateful to all the heads of state and government ministers along with leaders from civil society and the private sector who, by joining us in Madrid, are recommitting to life-saving immunisation.”
The Global Vaccine Impact Conference is the first in-person conference on the state of global vaccination since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It saw the publication of a new report, Raising Generation ImmUnity, on progress made since 2020 on immunisation goals – including new statistics pointing to a worldwide recovery in routine immunisation in 2022. Access the programme here.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases. The Vaccine Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. View the full list of donor governments and other leading organisations that fund Gavi’s work here.
Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has helped to immunise a whole generation – over 1 billion children – and prevented more than 16.2 million future deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 lower-income countries. Gavi also plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting health systems as well as funding global stockpiles for Ebola, cholera, meningococcal and yellow fever vaccines. After two decades of progress, Gavi is now focused on protecting the next generation, above all the zero-dose children who have not received even a single vaccine shot. The Vaccine Alliance employs innovative finance and the latest technology – from drones to biometrics – to save millions more lives, prevent outbreaks before they can spread and help countries on the road to self-sufficiency. Learn more at www.gavi.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
Gavi is a co-convener of COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, together with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. In its role, Gavi is focused on procurement and delivery for COVAX: coordinating the design, implementation and administration of the COVAX Facility and the Gavi COVAX AMC and working with its Alliance partners UNICEF and WHO, along with governments, on country readiness and delivery.
