Alwaleed Philanthropies Invests $5 Million With Gavi's INFUSE Initiative to Support the Global Fight for Vaccines

Middle East - English

- Partnership will tackle immunisation challenges in urban areas through investment in innovation and technology

- Launched at the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7)

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Sep 01, 2019, 01:00 ET

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Alwaleed Philanthropies, chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz AlSaud, the global philanthropic foundation, has made a fresh commitment to preventing the spread of disease by investing a further US $5 million in its partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

The commitment will provide extra funding between 2020 and 2024 to support organisations known by Gavi as 'pacesetters' that are developing new innovations to improve vaccine access and delivery, particularly in urban areas. The foundation will make the investment through Gavi's INFUSE initiative (Innovation for Uptake, Scale and Equity in Immunisation), which identifies these 'pacesetters', provides funding and support for them, and connects them to authorities in countries that need vaccination support.

The grant is part of a range of efforts by Alwaleed Philanthropies to improve routine immunisation and contributes to Gavi's mission to ensure that every child is immunised with basic life-saving vaccines no matter where they live and builds on the original US $1 million investment made in 2015 to support vaccines in Timor Leste, Kiribati, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Guyana for the 2016-2020 programme.

HRH Princess Lamia Bint Majid Al Saud, General Secretary of Alwaleed Philanthropies, announced the partnership at the 7^th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7), hosted by the Japanese government in Yokohama on 30^th August.

She said: "Alwaleed Philanthropies places huge importance on its partnership with the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance – and specifically their INFUSE Initiative – to boost immunisation in the world's poorest countries. With the majority of the world's population increasingly living in urban areas, and with more than 19.4 million children still unimmunised, we recognise that there has rarely been a more pressing need to support innovation in immunisation."

Every year INFUSE supports research, entrepreneurship and innovation in areas that help governments, healthcare organisations and other partners reach more children with life-saving vaccines. This year the investment from Alwaleed Philanthropies will support innovations uniquely positioned to address immunisation challenges in urban settings.

By 2050 nearly 70% of the world's population will live in urban settings. The rapid growth will add nearly 2.5 billion people to urban areas, with 90% of the expansion occurring in Asia and Africa. These large, highly populated urban settings with mobile, transient and under-immunised populations lend themselves to an increased risk of disease transmission and outbreaks.

"Alwaleed Philanthropies has been a steadfast supporter of our mission to ensure no child goes without lifesaving vaccines," said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. "This new funding to INFUSE will help accelerate the introduction of innovations and technology to modernize vaccine delivery systems and ensure that vaccines protect all children against deadly diseases. I'd like to offer my sincere thanks on behalf of Gavi to Alwaleed Philanthropies and HRH Princess Lamia bint Majid Al-Saud for their support."

About Alwaleed Philanthropies

Alwaleed Philanthropies is a philanthropic organisation that supports initiatives across the world in women's and youth empowerment, community development, cross-cultural understanding, and crisis and disaster relief.

About Gavi

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership committed to saving children's lives and protecting people's health by increasing equitable use of vaccines in lower-income countries. 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. Gavi uses innovative finance mechanisms to secure sustainable funding and adequate supply of quality vaccines. Since 2000, Gavi has contributed to the immunisation of more than 760 million children and the prevention of over 13 million future deaths. Learn more at www.gavi.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is supported by donor governments (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, the People's Republic of China, Principality of Monaco, Republic of Korea, Russia, South Africa, Spain, the State of Qatar, the Sultanate of Oman, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States), the European Commission, Alwaleed Philanthropies, the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as well as private and corporate partners (Absolute Return for Kids, Anglo American plc., The Audacious Alliance, The Children's Investment Fund Foundation, China Merchants Group, Comic Relief, Deutsche Post DHL, the ELMA Vaccines and Immunization Foundation, Girl Effect, The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (IFPW), the Gulf Youth Alliance, JP Morgan, Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, "la Caixa" Foundation, LDS Charities, Lions Clubs International Foundation, Mastercard, Majid Al Futtaim, Orange, Philips, Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever, UPS and Vodafone).