Civil society organisations launch call to action on vaccines

A diverse range of global organisations and health activists have launched a call to action today in support of the GAVI Alliance global vaccination conference which is taking place on Monday. The statement was prepared by the GAVI Civil Society Steering Committee, which includes Save the Children’s Head of Health Simon Wright.

In the Call to Action, civil society organisations are calling for donors to fully fund GAVI. It’s also calling for the impact of GAVI’s resources to be maximised by ensuring there is a greater focus on reaching the poorest children by:

• building strong health systems and investing in more health workers to deliver vaccines
• continuing to reduce the prices of vaccines so they are more affordable for the poorest countries.

The call to action has already received almost 200 endorsements from around the globe. It highlights the important role that civil society plays in both supporting the delivery of vaccines, but also in holding donors and vaccine manufacturers accountable for their commitments.

On Sunday 12 June,  the day before the global vaccination summit, Save the Children is hosting a meeting of civil society representatives to discuss how we can help to ensure it’s a success, that the key points in the call to action can be taken forward, and that resources committed to GAVI can have the greatest possible impact for children.

Read the full text of the Call to Action here

Sign our petition and encourage world leaders to do the right thing at the global vaccination summit.