GAVI and India’s Immunisation Programme
In January 2016, the government of India and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have announced a partnership to save lives of millions of Indian children by increased access to vaccines.
What is Gavi?
Gavi, a global vaccine alliance, is an international organisation created in 2000, brings together public and private sectors with a goal to provide equal access to new and underused vaccines to children in poorest countries of the world.
Role played by Gavi in India
Gavi has been supporting India’s immunisation programme since 2002. Gavi provides funding to India to strengthen its health system. Currently, Gavi supports pentavalent vaccine which offers protection against five diseases (diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP), hepatitis B, and Haemophilius influenzae type b). During the period 2000-15, Gavi has provided more than USD 240 million to help India to provide immunisation to its children against life-threatening diseases. Gavi has also promised another USD 107 million to support strengthening of health systems in India, which would play an important role in success of Mission Indradhanush.
Future projects of Gavi in India
Under the new partnership strategy, between 2016 and 2021, Gavi will allocate a total of USD 500 million in two tranches – USD 100 million, to support the country’s current immunisation programme and enhance reach, and USD 400 million, for country-wide introduction of new vaccines for diarrhoea and pneumonia, cervical cancer, and Rubella with measles.
Gavi’s aim is to immunise an additional three million children and prevent five-six million deaths during 2016-20.The measles-rubella combined vaccine protects children against measles, a highly infectious disease that kills around 30,000 children in India every year, as well as congenital rubella syndrome, which causes severe deformities and disabilities through the spread of the virus from pregnant women to their babies. Gavi will also support India to introduce the human papillomavirus vaccine that protects women against the leading cause of cervical cancer, a disease that kills 70,000 Indian women every year.
Gavi also said that India will begin transitioning away from Gavi support from 2017 and is expected to begin fully self-financing all its vaccine programmes by 2021. Presently, Gavi procures 60% of its vaccines from Indian companies. Through the new partnership Gavi will work closely with Indian government to create a more sustainable global and domestic vaccine manufacturing base, keeping in line with the Make in India initiative. In spite of India providing the vaccines for children in other countries, it does not able to use these sufficiently for its own children. Gavi has been working to fix this issue.
