GOVERNMENTS HAVE A ‘MORAL DUTY’ TO STAVE OFF PREVENTABLE DISEASES

▶ Abu Dhabi summit hears about the urgency of supporting immunisation programmes to save millions of children

World leaders are being urged to support immunisation programmes in poor countries, for moral reasons and to safeguard their own nations.

As a two-day summit convened by vaccines alliance Gavi opened in Abu Dhabi, the UAE reaffirmed its commitment to help fund international vaccine schemes in future. South Korea also backed causes supported by Gavi – which has helped to inoculate about 700 million children since it was set up in 2000 – with a new $15 million (Dh55.08m) pledge.

But senior figures at the charity expressed alarm at a rise in nationalism in parts of the developed world, which has led to foreign aid budgets coming under increased scrutiny. US President Donald Trump, who has pledged to cut levels of foreign aid as part of his America First drive, is only one of several world leaders to do so.

Gavi relies on government funding and charitable foundations. It is in the early stages of planning to raise cash for its next four-year cycle which starts in 2020. “In a world that is fractured, where we have more displaced people than we’ve had in history, infectious diseases know no bounds,” Seth Berkley, the chief executive of Gavi, said at his organisation’s midterm review on Saadiyat Island yesterday.

“Yes, you can try to keep people who are infected out, yes, you can require vaccines from people coming. But it’s only by getting rid of those diseases that we can really have a safe world. It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s also something that’s good for all countries.”

Speaking to The National, he said: “Putting up a wall may stop people, but it sure doesn’t stop insects or infectious diseases. I can have dinner here in Abu Dhabi, breakfast in London or Geneva and lunch in New York, all in the incubation time of an infectious disease.

“Unless you were completely to close a country, infectious diseases will still move. Borders do not matter.”

Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation, said that the country would “continue giving a hand to those who need it”.

The UAE gave $33m to Gavi between 2011 and 2015, and a further $5m in the current cycle for campaigns in Afghanistan. It has also invested heavily in efforts to wipe out polio, pledging $120m in 2013. Yesterday, South Korea’s pledge for the three years to 2021, offered another boost.

Gavi has said its work has saved 10 million lives since it was set up in 2000. It has helped to ensure the immunisation of more than 288 million children in the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation states, and is “well on its way” to vaccinating another 300 million children across the world by 2020.

Among about 300 delegates attending the event are the president of Niger, the prime minister of Mozambique and a former president of Tanzania.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian finance minister who is board chair at Gavi, said the scale of delivery of vaccines was a “success that the world should look at, at a time of uncertainty”.

Reflecting on efforts to vaccinate children in Yemen, which has been hit by a major cholera crisis, she said: “Immunisation for the population is not just a humanitarian thing, it is also probably one of the most cost-effective things that the international community can do for Yemen.

“For every dollar spent on immunising a child, you get $16 in return in avoided health costs.”

Unless you were completely to close a country, infectious diseases will still move. Borders do not matter SETH BERKLEY Chief executive of Gavi