ktlight
13th June 2011, 13:01
FYI:
Britain will donate an additional £814 million to vaccinate more than 80 million children against diseases like pneumonia and diarrhoea, David Cameron announced today.
The Prime Minister said the money would help save 1.4 million lives in the developing world over the next five years.
He was speaking at the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) conference in London, where world leaders, charities, private companies and philanthropists including Microsoft's Bill Gates were discussing how to generate the funds to ensure children receive protection against potentially fatal diseases.
Mr Cameron told the conference: "Britain will play its full part.
"In addition to our existing support for Gavi, we will provide £814 million of new funding up to 2015.
"This will help vaccinate over 80 million children and save 1.4 million lives.
"That is one child vaccinated every two seconds for five years. It is one child's life saved every two minutes. That is what the money that the British taxpayer is putting in will give."
Mr Gates later told the conference that his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was pledging an additional one billion US dollars (£616 million) over the next five years to help the vaccination campaign.
Mr Cameron acknowledged that the increased cash for vaccinations - part of the UK's goal of devoting 0.7% of national income to aid by 2013 - would be "controversial" at a time of cuts in spending on public services at home.
He told the conference: "At a time when we are making spending cuts at home what we are doing today and the way we are protecting our aid budget is controversial.
"Some people say we simply can't afford spending money on overseas aid right now, that we should get our own house in order before worrying about other people's problems.
"Others see the point of helping other countries to develop, but they don't think aid works anyway, because corrupt dictators prevent it from reaching the people who really need it."
But the Prime Minister rejected these arguments.
source to read more
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/pm-announces-extra-814m-for-vaccines-2296883.html
Britain will donate an additional £814 million to vaccinate more than 80 million children against diseases like pneumonia and diarrhoea, David Cameron announced today.
The Prime Minister said the money would help save 1.4 million lives in the developing world over the next five years.
He was speaking at the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) conference in London, where world leaders, charities, private companies and philanthropists including Microsoft's Bill Gates were discussing how to generate the funds to ensure children receive protection against potentially fatal diseases.
Mr Cameron told the conference: "Britain will play its full part.
"In addition to our existing support for Gavi, we will provide £814 million of new funding up to 2015.
"This will help vaccinate over 80 million children and save 1.4 million lives.
"That is one child vaccinated every two seconds for five years. It is one child's life saved every two minutes. That is what the money that the British taxpayer is putting in will give."
Mr Gates later told the conference that his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was pledging an additional one billion US dollars (£616 million) over the next five years to help the vaccination campaign.
Mr Cameron acknowledged that the increased cash for vaccinations - part of the UK's goal of devoting 0.7% of national income to aid by 2013 - would be "controversial" at a time of cuts in spending on public services at home.
He told the conference: "At a time when we are making spending cuts at home what we are doing today and the way we are protecting our aid budget is controversial.
"Some people say we simply can't afford spending money on overseas aid right now, that we should get our own house in order before worrying about other people's problems.
"Others see the point of helping other countries to develop, but they don't think aid works anyway, because corrupt dictators prevent it from reaching the people who really need it."
But the Prime Minister rejected these arguments.
source to read more
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/pm-announces-extra-814m-for-vaccines-2296883.html