MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON AT THE GAVI VACCINE ALLIANCE WORLD SUMMIT ON VACCINATION 2020.

Prime Minister, dear Boris Johnson,Ladies and Gentlemen, Heads of State and Government,Madam Chair of the Board of Directors of Gavi, dear Ngozi Okonjo-Ikewala,Director General, dear Seth Berkley,Ladies and Gentlemen ,

I would first like to thank the United Kingdom for organizing this world summit on immunization. A few months after the success obtained in Lyon to replenish the resources of the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, we must collectively meet this other essential pillar of global health: equal access to all to vaccines.

Twenty years ago, the Vaccine Alliance was born out of a simple idea that has transformed millions of lives: to make new, effective vaccines available and thus protect children around the world from infectious diseases. Ensure that everyone, regardless of where they are born, has equal access to life-saving vaccines.

These past twenty years have been the story of women and men who are committed to making this idea a reality, bringing together public and private players, joining forces to accelerate and make a difference on the ground. .  

It is the story of a generation that could thus be better protected and build their lives. 760 million children vaccinated. 13 million lives saved.

It is the story of the fight against the inequalities of destiny, which owes so much – let us remember – to the engagement of Nelson Mandela in the 2000s, he who refused that the life or death of a child depends too often the accessibility of vaccines in the country where it is born.

This story is not over. And it’s our turn to write it. The challenges remain colossal. We know them. Many low- and middle-income countries have made great strides in improving immunization coverage.

But, the WHO reminded it a few days ago:

The targets set for the elimination of diseases such as measles, rubella and maternal and neonatal tetanus may not be met if there is no start by the end of 2020.

Tens of millions of children around the world are still not getting the vaccines they need. And it is most often those who are exposed to conflicts, to insecurity, to all inequalities.

The COVID-19 pandemic only amplifies these challenges. Make them more serious and more urgent. By shaking immunization services worldwide, the crisis exposes nearly 80 million children under the age of one to diseases such as diphtheria, measles and polio.

It is therefore imperative to redouble our efforts to support the health systems of the most fragile countries and thus enable them to maintain immunization programs. This is the first major issue of this reconstitution conference.

Gavi today needs resources to continue fulfilling its mission: that is to say to vaccinate children, young people, adolescents and adults, thus saving 8 million additional lives in the next 5 years. Our fight against the Coronavirus must not prevent us from winning this other fight. It is vital to maintain efforts for vaccination against other diseases to avoid the scourge of epidemic outbreaks for diseases that we unfortunately know so well, such as polio or measles and others that can be terribly deadly, such as Ebola or yellow fever.

France will take its full share in this effort, which must be historic in order to meet the challenges before us, with an additional effort of 250 million euros which brings our total contribution to the cycle which opens from 2021 to 2026 to 500 million and which comes in addition to our reinforced mobilization alongside the world health organization, the global fund, African health systems.

The second challenge is to ensure that a vaccine against COVID-19, when it is discovered, benefits everyone, because it will be a global public good. This is one of the essential objectives of the ACT-A initiative that we have carried out with the World Health Organization, the European Commission, the United Kingdom and many others and which today finds, at Through this conference, a new concrete translation. This is why France will be ready, as requested by the alliance, to increase its contribution by 100 million euros when an effective vaccine against COVID-19 becomes available, in order to ensure its dissemination at an affordable price. while maintaining the necessary level of commitment against other diseases.

What is playing out now at this conference is what led to the foundation of the alliance: the right of everyone to health. The fundamental right of everyone to benefit, regardless of the country where he lives, at the same opportunity to build his destiny. It is the source of the fight against all inequalities and it is a fundamental choice for the world, for the world of today and tomorrow. For the world we want to build, after this pandemic. We will be committed there.

Thank you.

‍https://www.elysee.fr/AboutPresident Marcon :Emmanuel MACRON is the eighth President of the Vth French Republic.