Why in the news?

  • Gavi and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have announced a new agreement that it said will make the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccines significantly more accessible and affordable, paving the way for protecting more children.

Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI)

  • What is it?: Gavi is a global public–private partnership created in 2000 to improve access to vaccines in low-income countries.
  • Partnership: It brings together governments, WHO, UNICEF, World Bank, civil society, vaccine manufacturers, foundations (notably the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), and research institutions.
  • Objectives:
    • Increase equitable and sustainable access to life-saving vaccines.
    • Strengthen health systems, cold chain logistics, and immunisation delivery.
    • Ensure market shaping by reducing vaccine prices and ensuring supply.
  • Functions:
    • Co-financing model: Countries gradually increase their share of vaccine financing as incomes rise.
    • Market shaping: Negotiates lower vaccine prices (e.g., pneumococcal, rotavirus, HPV).
    • Introduction of new vaccines in LMICs.
    • Outbreak response through Gavi’s Vaccine Alliance Emergency Stockpile (e.g., cholera, Ebola).

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

  • Formation: Established in 1946; became a permanent part of the UN system in 1953.
  • Headquarters: New York.
  • Objectives:
    • Improve child health, nutrition, and immunisation.
    • Strengthen education, especially for girls.
    • Ensure safe water, sanitation (WASH).
    • Protection from violence, exploitation, and abuse.
    • Provide humanitarian relief in emergencies (conflict, disaster, epidemics).
  • Nature: A UN specialized agency guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1989.
  • Members: Works in 190+ countries and territories.

Source: The Hindu