Alwaleed Philanthropies, chaired by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the global philanthropic foundation, has made a fresh commitment to preventing the spread of disease by investing a further $5 million in its partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
The commitment will provide extra funding between 2020 and 2024 to support organizations known by Gavi as “pacesetters” that are developing new innovations to improve vaccine access and delivery, particularly in urban areas. The foundation will make the investment through Gavi’s INFUSE initiative (Innovation for Uptake, Scale and Equity in Immunization), which identifies these “pacesetters,” provides funding and support for them, and connects them to authorities in countries that need vaccination support.
The grant is part of a range of efforts by Alwaleed Philanthropies to improve routine immunization and builds on the original $1 million investment made in 2015 to support vaccines in Timor Leste, Kiribati, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Guyana for the 2016-2020 program.
Princess Lamia bint Majid Al-Saud, general-secretary of Alwaleed Philanthropies, announced the partnership at the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7), hosted by the Japanese government in Yokohama on Aug. 30.
She said: “Alwaleed Philanthropies places huge importance on its partnership with the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance — and specifically their INFUSE Initiative — to boost immunization in the world’s poorest countries. With the majority of the world’s population increasingly living in urban areas, and with more than 19.4 million children still under-immunized, we recognize that there has rarely been a more pressing need to support innovation in immunization.”
“Alwaleed Philanthropies has been a steadfast supporter of our mission to ensure no child goes without life-saving vaccines,” said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “This new funding to INFUSE will help accelerate the introduction of innovations and technology that modernize vaccine delivery systems and ensure vaccines protect all children against deadly diseases. On behalf of Gavi, I’d like to offer my sincere thanks to Alwaleed Philanthropies and Princess Lamia bint Majid Al-Saud for their support.”