Speech |

MSF's closing comments at the GAVI Partners' Forum vaccination meeting in Tanzania

Speaker: Dr Manica Balasegaram, Executive Director, MSF Access Campaign

“It’s time to put an end to the fact that one in five babies born every year still misses out on basic vaccination that can protect them from childhood killers. In the often unstable and remote places where we work, we need vaccines that don’t require refrigeration, can be delivered without needles and can be given in fewer doses so we can get to the hardest-to-reach children.

The ‘Decade of Vaccines’ will only be a success if GAVI and the vaccination community change their ways and get serious about developing vaccines tailored to developing country needs, and get much more aggressive about bringing vaccine prices down so countries can afford them long term, once donor support tapers off.

We call on GAVI to systematically extend its prices to humanitarian actors who are often closest to the most unreached children in need of life-saving vaccines, because we can’t afford to waste time in lengthy negotiations with companies each time we need to act fast.”

Full overview of MSF's presence at the GAVI Partners' Forum.