Today in Paris, vaccine alliance Gavi announced it needs at least $9 billion in new pledges to fund its work from 2026-2030. So far, it has received $2.4 billion in pledges, with $1.58 billion of that coming from the U.S.
Gavi needs at least $11.9 billion in total, but it anticipates that $2.9 billion will be assured over the next five years.
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The organization seeks to expand coverage of currently available vaccines, and introduce new ones under its new strategy. It also plans to be more responsive to evolving global needs, such as climate change and humanitarian crises. In fact, Gavi is creating a funding window for countries not eligible for Gavi support, but are experiencing a humanitarian crisis.
In an interview with Devex ahead of the launch, Gavi CEO Sania Nishtar told me she’s “cautiously optimistic” that they will be able to achieve their fundraising target, despite the fact that the World Health Organization, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and even the World Bank’s IDA also have their hats in hand for more funding at the moment.
For one, Gavi has done its homework, with a rationale as to why they needed that amount of money. Furthermore, donors like sustainability and impact — which she’s convinced Gavi has a track record for.
“We are an organization that gives them results,” she said. “So we are not like the regular NGO or the regular organization where donors continue to throw money for with no end in sight.”
Read: Gavi launches $9B fundraising target
Read more: Gavi announces support for Ebola vaccines in most at risk countries
ICYMI: Gavi needs a ‘new playbook’ to deliver impact, experts say
A $1 billion initiative
One of the most anticipated launches in Paris is the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, a Gavi program that aims to invest at least $1 billion over the next 10 years to support sustainable vaccine manufacturing in the African continent.
AVMA’s creation is in response to lessons learned from COVID-19, which revealed how inequities can emerge when only a few countries and geographical regions have the capacity to manufacture vaccines. It is expected to play a key role in supporting the African Union’s goal for the continent to produce 60% of the vaccines it uses by 2040.
Reaching a sustainable African vaccine manufacturing ecosystem however “will require a true multistakeholder effort and considerable political will to ensure that demand for African vaccines can sustain African production chains,” Gavi CEO Sania Nishtar, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya, and French Minister of State for Development and International Partnerships Chrysoula Zacharopoulou write in an opinion piece for Devex.
Opinion: Here’s what today’s African vaccine accelerator launch means
If you know, you know
South Africa was the first country in the African region to include PrEP — a highly effective medication for preventing the spread of HIV — in its national HIV plan. But it still has a higher population of people living with HIV than any other country.
What gives? Apart from the challenges of taking a daily pill, stigma plays a huge part. Using PrEP can incur judgment from health care professionals and accusations of promiscuity.
So the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation is implementing a potential solution in one subdistrict of Cape Town — designed both by and for youth to help bring PrEP to scale, writes my colleague Sara Jerving.
In a bid to see whether more choices encourage people to take PrEP, participants are given the option of pills, injections, or a vaginal ring. The program includes delivery via courier services, mobile clinics set up near secondary schools and universities, and in places with lots of foot traffic. Others get PrEP in a group setting: Saturday meetings where they can also discuss their experiences using it.
Read: HIV prevention drug uptake is slow. Can offering choices change that?
Slow fade
We previously reported on the tension over budget cuts between UNAIDS’ secretariat and the U.N. agencies that serve as the program’s co-sponsors. Those funding problems for the agency mandated to lead the global response on HIV and AIDS have only gotten worse.
Now, the NGO delegation on the UNAIDS board is also decrying the budget they’re getting from the program, which they said is affecting the ability to produce reports, translate documents, and travel to meetings — essentially, reduced engagement with the UNAIDS board and civil society.
This isn’t the first year they’re experiencing budget constraints. But according to Xavier Biggs, an NGO delegate to the UNAIDS board, the shortfall “has now gone to critical levels where our total budget cannot be met.”
Anecdotal feedback they’re getting from civil society partners is that “there is a sense that civil society inclusion and participation is dwindling, and it might not be leading to the kind of prioritization that is needed to keep [their] voices at the table.”
Read: UNAIDS funding shortfall disrupts NGO work
Related: As resources for HIV dwindle, tensions grow at UNAIDS
What’s next?
If you’ve been following the controversies surrounding USAID’s multibillion global health supply chain project, NextGen, here’s one update for you: USAID has decided to extend the portion of the project that handles HIV commodities for two more years — and $2 billion more in funding.
Chemonics International will continue to lead this work until 2026, as USAID decided to extend the contract instead of opening it for bidding. My colleague Michael Igoe’s piece for Devex Pro members details the thinking behind the decision.
Read: USAID extends HIV supply chain project by two years (Pro)
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It’s a man’s world, after all
WHO announced an all-male lineup of candidates vying for the role of the next regional director for the African region. The five candidates include:
Dr. Ibrahima Socé Fall, the African Union-endorsed candidate and WHO's current director of the global neglected tropical diseases program. He was WHO’s regional emergency director in charge of coordinating WHO's operations on the ground during the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018.
Dr. Richard Mihigo, Gavi’s senior director of programmatic and strategic engagement with the African Union, who previously led WHO's regional immunization and vaccine development program.
Dr. Boureima Hama Sambo, WHO's representative to the DRC.
Dr. Faustine Engelbert Ndugulile, Tanzania's former minister of communication and information technology.
Dr. N’da Konan Michel Yao, WHO's director of strategic health operations. He was WHO’s incident manager during the 10th Ebola outbreak in the DRC and was among those who were put on paid leave during investigations into whether senior officials acted promptly with regard to incidents of sexual exploitation during the outbreak, according to a report by the Financial Times. He was later cleared by a U.N. investigation and reinstated.
The regional committee of the WHO African region will vote to nominate the next regional director in a closed meeting during its 74th session from Aug. 26 to 30.
What we’re reading
Experts say current research on older women’s health is “completely inadequate.” [The Washington Post]
Air pollution is now the second leading risk factor for death globally, and almost 2,000 children under 5 years old die each day because of it, according to the latest State of Global Air report. [Health Policy Watch]
The U.S. military carried out a secret campaign to discredit Chinese vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Reuters]
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
