Giving Globally

In describing the effect GAVI’s support has had on child and maternal health and improved health systems in the poorest nations, Newsweek called the GAVI Alliance "a transformer." Its 2007 cover story on "Giving Globally" commended GAVI for being "market savvy" and "getting results fast."

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright calls GAVI "an alliance designed to win - broadly-based, market savvy, sensitive to local needs, committed to long-term success, and dedicated to the proposition that every child must be reached, because every child counts."

In 2000, basic immunization rates across sub-Saharan Africa averaged 50 percent. Countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Somalia, were losing ground fast. By 2007, thanks in part to GAVI, rates for the region were above 65 percent… and climbing.

In 2000, among the 72 GAVI-eligible countries, the immunization rate for diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) - the fundamental metric for child health - was at 65 percent. By 2007, it had climbed to 75 percent.

In 2000, GAVI-eligible countries were spending just $2.50 per person on immunization. By 2007, it was twice that amount, $5.00 - not nearly enough, but a move in the right direction.

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