Leading the way: Save the Children honoured for work on vaccines and immunisation

Last night, we were especially pleased to be awarded the Rise-Up award at the GAVI Partners’ Forum in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The award recognises the non-governmental organisation that has done the most for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) through its policy and advocacy work.

Immunisation for all

GAVI is a multilateral partnership that aims to expand access to immunisation in the world’s poorest countries. Our role is to make sure that giving the poorest children access to life-saving vaccines is the top priority.

On Wednesday, we launched a new report, Immunisation for All, which argues that equity is the real priority and that immunisation should be expanded alongside other health services. The report urges all actors to seize the opportunity we have this decade to achieve universal access to immunisation.

Leading the way

Save the Children has also been doing high profile work with NGOs and voluntary groups, including through my role on the GAVI Civil Society Steering Committee.

This afternoon, I was a panellist in an important session on equity, arguing that immunisation should be the flagship for Universal Health Coverage.

Championing vaccines

However, it was last night that we had the highest profile during the GAVI awards ceremony. The Rise-Up award, which I bring back to London tonight, recognises how we championed vaccines and immunisation with the UK government and other donors, leading to the spectacular success of GAVI’s pledging conference in 2011.

This event achived a milestone in children’s health, raising US$ 4.3 billion to immunise more than 250 million of the world’s poorest children against life-threatening diseases by 2015.