Gavi ‘frustrated’ as the vaccine support ends

The head of Gavi said on Thursday that the organization that vaccinates children in the poorest countries in the world was “frustrated” after Washington announced that it was funding in an incendiary video that questioning its security standards.

A Brussels Summit held by the team to raise money on Wednesday night was overshadowed by a video message sent by US Health Minister Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who doubted the safety of vaccines with no evidence and announced.

“We were disappointed to see the video,” said Gavi CEO Sania Nishtar AFP In a telephone interview.

“Of course, we disagree with many of the things that are told in the video.

The withdrawal of United States funding comes as Gavi and the United Nations said in April that the outbreaks of diseases that can be affected by vaccines such as measles, meningitis and yellow fever are increasing worldwide amid misinformation and cuts in international help.

Gavi secured more than $ 9 billion on Wednesday on Wednesday, with the exception of $ 11.9 billion, the group said it had to fund its activities for the next five years, when it hopes to “protect 500 million children”.

However, Nishtar said it was a “positive result” at a time when many donors’ nations had other priorities, including increasing defense spending and, as international assistance as a whole is in decline.

Despite Washington’s support, Gavi was “in a very good position”, he added. The United States currently contributes to 13% of the Group’s basic budget.

Inflatable attack

On Wednesday, Kennedy-who spent decades to spread the misinformation of vaccines before becoming the leading health official Donald Trump-said the United States “will not contribute” until Gavi redefines “confidence”.

In an inflatable attack he accused the team of pushing unsafe vaccines to the developing world.

“When vaccine safety issues have come before Gavi, Gavi has treated them not as a patient’s health problem, but as a public relations problem,” Kennedy said in a clip he played at the Summit.

“In his zeal to promote universal vaccination, he has neglected the key issue of vaccine safety,” he added.

He particularly raised concerns about a vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and cough, known as DTPW, which is widely used in a lower income nations.

Gavi replied that the DTPW vaccine is used to develop nations, as the burden of the disease was much higher than in high -income sections in the world.

The shot is stronger, with longer effects from the alternative used in the West, he added.

“In places where access to hospitals is limited and the risk of illness is high, the strongest protection against DTPW against these life -threatening diseases far exceeds the temporary side effects that this vaccine can cause,” Gavi said.

Nishtar also questioned the idea that its organization had to regain public confidence.

“We have so much demand for vaccines from the countries we argue, that we cannot fulfill them. When you go to the field, you see women aligning to vaccinate children,” he said.

“There is already huge confidence,” he added

European countries and the European Union have jointly committed more than two billion euros to Gavi, according to Brussels.

Another $ 1.6 billion was offered by the Microsoft Bill Gates co -founding Foundation.