Applauding Global Immunization Initiatives, Secretary-General Says Work of GAVI

Alliance Partners ‘Spells the Difference between Life and Death’

 

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message to the GAVI Alliance Partners’ Forum, held in Dar es Salaam, 5 December:

His Excellency Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania; Ms. Graça Machel; Dagfinn Høybråten, Chair of the Board; Seth Berkley, CEO of GAVI; distinguished ministers; partners in the GAVI Alliance,

I am pleased to send greetings to the GAVI Alliance Partners’ Forum.

I have seen your life-saving work in my travels around the world.  In Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nigeria and beyond — where GAVI spells the difference between life and death.  In India — which is now polio-free.

I applaud GAVI for helping countries to immunize 325 million children and prevent more than 5 million deaths.  I salute your contribution, which is critical to the success of our Every Woman Every Child movement.

Thanks to international partnerships like GAVI, Governments, civil society, foundations, businesses and the United Nations are successfully tackling pressing global health problems.

You — the GAVI partners — are using ambition, innovation and collaboration to get tangible results.  And more advances are on the horizon.  The HPV [human papillomavirus] vaccine will have a major impact on women and adolescent girls.  We are finally on the brink of eradicating polio.  We are approaching our goal to immunize every child, everywhere.

I count on you to use this forum to solidify GAVI’s great success, and save even more lives in the future.

Thank you.

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For information media • not an official record